Teana's Travels  Book 1: Spartan
by D.K.N
Summary: First part  excluding prologue  of an epic mega-xover. Disillusioned by the TSAB, Teana sets off to explore other realms. Her first stop puts her in the middle of the devastating Human-Covenant War. Rated M for graphic violence and strong language.
1. Transit

Here's Book 1 (Book 0, the Prologue, is in the Nanoha section) of my multi-fic tale regarding a thoroughly-disillusioned Teana Lanstar wandering the multiverse in search of strength and a purpose.

_Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha _is the property of 7-Arcs. _Halo _used to be the property of Bungie, and is now the property of the Bungie spinoff company 343 Studios

PART I – TRANSIT

Teana sighed as she stood up from the captain's chair, which was currently redundant as the ship was on autopilot, and in slipstream space there were no enemies to worry about, and thus no need for a captain barking combat orders at subordinates (which Teana didn't have, either… yet). She stalked down the empty halls, heading for her quarters about 10 minutes from the bridge, and as she walked she reflected on her newfound freedom, no longer a pawn of the TSAB SpecOps' intricate plots to humiliate and demean her. She was free.

So why did things still feel sorta wrong?

Feeling strangely exhausted, Teana stripped nude and crawled into her bed, deciding that she… just needed… to rest her… eyes for a few… zzzzzz….

As Teana slept, the ship's semi-sapient AI got to work. Recognizing its sole occupant and current owner as a member of the species chosen as Reclaimers, it scanned ahead to gauge the situation in its home dimension that the ship was currently _en route_ to. Finding and deciphering records regarding a group of specially trained and altered Reclaimers, it picked out some of the internal enhancements possessed by these individuals, drew up data on a few of the enhancements held by shock troopers of the long-deceased military of its creators' empire, and linked up with the AI currently in the Reclaimer's possession, requesting and receiving data on Midchildan-style magic, and recognizing it as a descendant of its makers' mages' magic style.

(AN: Forerunner-style magic → Al-Hazred-style magic → branch into Belkan- and Midchildan-styles of magic)

Picking out the enhancements deemed to be of necessity to its new owner, the _Starshot_'s AI teleported the sleeping girl to the med-bay. There, it anesthetized her, activated sterilization fields for surgical purposes, and went to work. All enhancements integrated successfully, the extraordinarily advanced medical tech that the Makers left behind ensured no scars or other marks of the procedure, and Teana was un-anesthetized and teleported, still asleep, back into her bed. A pair of Constructor drones flew up, grabbed hold of the bedsheet & blanket, and tucked her in before returning to their dormant storage.

Teana groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She turned her head and saw the digital clock on the wall: 8:25 AM. It had been 9:45 PM when she'd gone to sleep. After a few seconds of slight twitches and movements, she noticed that something felt… different. She sat up, the blanket and sheet pooling at her waist, and noticed the difference in the way her body responded to her mental command. As she pondered, she realized that her thoughts felt different as well, as if her brain had be re-wired by an electrician of greater skill than the one who first put the wires in. She rose her right hand to her face, and moved her arm around a little, surprised at how much quicker and smoother the motions seemed to be. She also felt the difference in her muscles, which felt stronger and more toned.

She pushed the sheets down and got to her feet, immediately feeling slightly awkward, as if her body wasn't quite working the way it used to be. She picked up her Device, currently in card form.

"Mirage", she asked, "what's happened to me?"

"The semi-sapient AI of this ship," Cross Mirage replied, "saw fit to bestow certain internal enhancements to your body, due to the nature of certain potential foes in the realm we are currently headed to."

"Wait," she stated, "are you saying I'm… what, a cyborg?"

"Technically, yes," Mirage replied, "but your enhancements are decades, if not centuries, more advanced than those of Mach Caliber's owner. They are also fundamentally different in structure. Rather than replacing parts of your body entirely, as was done to her, your internal systems have been… added on to."

"What exactly are these add-ons? And what do they do?"

Cross Mirage accessed the records, and replied "I shall break them down step by step.

"First, a process called 'carbide-ceramic ossification'. This is a grafting of a complex material to your skeletal structure. Your bones, master, are now essentially unbreakable.

"Second is a complex nanotechnological enhancement to your muscles. They have been altered to increase density, decrease lactase recovery time, and overall increase strength. Also, whenever I am with you, I can channel magical energy through your muscles to further boost their performance, to superhuman levels on par with those of a group of super-soldiers found in the realm we are heading for."

Teana felt uneasy at the prospect of relying on magic for anything, but the prospect of super strength proved too good to pass up, so she let it slide.

"Next is a process identified as 'superconducting fibrification of neural dendrites'. The bioelectrical nerve transduction of your central nervous system has been replaced by shielded electronic transduction. Scans show your reflexes have acquired a 300% boost beyond human norm. Of course, before you sealed your core, magic granted you a 50% boost, but that still pales in comparison to your current state. Also, the procedure seems to have refined your speed, ease, & clearness of thought, and should theoretically provide a boost in raw intelligence."

This one threw her a bit. She tested it out, noticing that her body did indeed respond to her commands at a speed around six times that of what it did back before The Incident. This also explained why her mind felt sharper and quicker. "Continue" she said.

"Most interesting", Cross Mirage stated, "is a considerable amount of nanotech enhancement to your internal organs, master. Your digestive system is considerably more efficient, able to draw more nutrients from consumed food, and also capable of digesting tougher materials, though by no means capable of digesting things that a human body can't digest at all in the first place – you cannot, say, live off of rocks, and you still require a balanced diet for maximum function.

"Your immune system has received a nigh-extreme boost in efficiency. Your body's ability to fight off pathogens has improved greatly, and nanobots in your body hold data on a staggering amount of harmful viruses and bacteria, and are programmed to identify, categorize, and eliminate any pathogens not yet in their collective databanks.

"Your cardiovascular and respiratory systems have also undergone quite the change, master. Your heart and lungs have been heavily altered – in fact, 18% replaced by nanotech – to dramatically boost efficiency, and have been given limited self-repair capabilities. Your blood vessels have been reinforced, and in some placed replaced, by dedicated nanotechnological additions. Your blood's ability to carry oxygen and dispose of carbon dioxide have been boosted as well, and the nanobots that patrol your bloodstream against pathogens are also programmed to assist in the repair of damaged or torn blood vessels, and the quickening of healing.

"Considering the nature of these changes, the _Starshot_'s AI and I have agreed to deliberately prolong our trip through slipstream space by three days, to give you time to adjust to your new body, master."

Teana was thoroughly stunned. This sort of cyborg tech was beyond the TSAB's dreams. After several seconds, she walked over to stand in front of the full-length mirror on the wall. That's when she noticed two big changes that she'd been too distracted to notice earlier.

Before, her breasts were a mid C-cup. She'd always felt a little jealous of Subaru's assets, which sat on the border between C and D (not that she disliked staring at them, especially when they bounced about due to the hyperactivity of their owner, though she'd never admit that). Now, however, either as a side-effect, a fluke, or perhaps even a deliberate decision by the ship's AI, her hands reached up to cup a pair of D-cup breasts, that looked like they were only half a centimeter away from E. For several seconds, she stared at her assets in the mirror, watching them sway lightly as she turned her upper body back and forth. She briefly considered 'experimenting' with them, but decided against it. Though Teana did not receive the libido-quashing thyroid implant common to Spartans, all the things on the teen's mind meant that she was currently in no mood for self-gratification. …Not that she'd ever done that, really.

…Okay, once.

…Okay, eight times. All of them except her experimental first being accompanied by a fantasy involving Subaru. And three of them having Erio thrown into the mix, with the most recent one having Ginga and Caro join in as well. The fantasy of all four of them pleasuring her simultaneously while also having fun with each other had been… very nice…

It was then that she noticed something else as well. She'd shaved down below three days ago, but now it looked even shorter. She reached down, ran a diagnosis with Mirage, and noticed there was no longer any hair down there at all. In fact, there was no longer any hair anywhere on her torso. Her stomach and lower back, formerly possessing a short, soft, near-invisible fuzz, were completely smooth. She still had the slight hair on her lower arms, but her armpits and her legs & feet were also now hairless.

…Meh, she thought. She didn't really care one way or the other (well, no longer having to shave her legs or privates was a definite plus).

'Now then,' she thought to herself, 'I guess this is where I start adjusting.'

The next three days were spent discovering her body's new capabilities, and seemed to pass quickly. Eventually, the _Starshot _neared its trans-dimensional destination. Space-time rippled and distorted, and a blue-white portal opened up and spat out the 1600-meter vessel. An orange K-type star shone its light on the star system, and the bridge display showed a blue-green planet.

It was 15,273 kilometers in diameter, compared to the 12,742 kilometers of Earth or the 11,947 kilometers of Midchilda. Scans showed it to be a young world, 1.1 billion years of age compared to Midchilda's 3.7 billion and Earth's 4.5 billion. Closer scans revealed a fleet of armed starships around the body, with massive orbital cannons stationed at various geosynchronous orbital points. A few of these ships – grey & black, blocky in structure – cautiously began to approach the _Starshot_, which was broadcasting this new faction's come-in-peace white-flag code. Teana read the name of the star system and planet as they appeared on screen.

Epsilon Eridani. Reach.

That's it for the opening. Next chapter, the UNSC gets its first friendly first contact. No flames please.


	2. Integration

Here's Chapter 2.

And if anyone complains about Cortana being active already, read the booklet that came with the Halo: Reach Limited Edition, which reveals that Cortana merely first met the Master Chief in August 2552, but was "born" back in 2549. And MJOLNIR Mark 5 was introduced Nov. 2551.

PART II – INTEGRATION

**Epsilon Eridani System**

**Reach**

**SWORD Base**

**March 2****nd**** 2552**

Dr. Catherine E. Halsey sighed as she sat back in her chair. The last week had been rather interesting, to say the least. Lanstar had quickly proven that she had no ill intent toward the UNSC, and had given some rather sketchy and space-filled explanations that were nonetheless extraordinarily enlightening. The existence of other realms had proven very intriguing, especially the existence of this 'Time-Space Administration Bureau'. But Teana had refused to explain more.

So her AI, Cross Mirage, did so instead.

The existence and nature of magic was a _huge _surprise to the brass, and to Halsey herself. However, after only four days of studying, Halsey already had a solid grasp behind the properties of the mysterious energy force. Mirage had then explained the reasons why Teana had refused to elaborate further on magic and the TSAB: the girl's rather ugly falling-out with her superiors (complete with audio transcripts), and her denouncement of magic (complete with in-depth data behind the construction and function of the self-applied seal currently on the teen's Linker Core).

The ONI personnel present had ordered all this data kept classified for the time being. Halsey had promptly disregarded this, informing Cortana (who would've found out anyway) and a few of her Spartans (John, Fred, Will, Kelly, & Linda) of the situation.

Another surprise was what the ship's AI had done to Teana. Some of the enhancements were straight out of the Spartan-II Program, and others were of a scale of nanotech that the UNSC was centuries from being able to achieve. What's more, the ship had remotely scanned her Spartans' armor, and crafted a MJOLNIR Mk. V-B suit (AN: the same type worn by Noble Team and other super-elite S-IIIs) customized for Teana, primarily of red plating with some orange thrown in, and a blue visor in the helmet. Teana was rapidly adjusting to the increases in physical capability the armor gave her.

Afterward, the _Starshot_'s AIhad promptly stated that it had business elsewhere and would be gone for several months, but would track Teana down when it was done. It had then jumped into Slipspace for parts unknown.

After going over the magically-recorded fight that had led to Teana leaving Midchilda, as well as the Hotel Augusta and White Devil Incidents that led to it, Halsey and her friend Col. Urban Holland had both ordered a full psychiatric profiling of Teana Lanstar. What they got was a little disconcerting, but not at all unexpected.

Teana's self-esteem was practically nonexistent; she put up a brave façade, but the Augusta and White Devil Incidents had utterly destroyed her self-confidence. What Teana didn't realize, but Halsey and John did, was that the Augusta Incident had been caused by improper training; this Takamachi girl hadn't trained Lanstar properly for the type of situation she found herself in, and had seemingly refused Lanstar opportunity to experiment with new tactics other than what Takamachi herself came up – and coming up with your own plans, especially on the fly in an unfamiliar situation, was necessity for Special Ops like Teana. As for the White Devil Incident? A combination of Teana suffering a long-time-coming nervous breakdown which hindered her ability to think tactically, and Teana trying to take on, in one-on-one combat, a Spartan-equivalent one-girl-army prodigy. Teana was a person comparing herself to a titan, and came off feeling like an ant in comparison, whereas in actuality, she was not only slightly above average by TSAB standards, her magical abilities – had they not been sealed – would've made her an invaluable shock trooper for the UNSC.

Missed opportunities. Hindsight is always 20/20.

And her new Spartan enhancements meant that, with the _proper _training, she might _still_ make a valuable asset for the UNSC.

As Dr. Halsey re-read her copy of the report, a knock came from her door. "Enter" she stated, and the door slid open to reveal the green-armored form of one of her Spartans, still armor-clad from a previous group training exercise a half-hour ago. Though 'outsiders' wouldn't notice it, the subtle body mannerisms and size/shape immediately told her it was John.

"Ma-am," Master Chief S-117 spoke, "Fred, Kelly, and I have finished going over some records regarding Lanstar's training and the nature of Midchildan Shooting Magic."

"And," Halsey replied, "What have you found?"

"A lot, ma'am" he replied. "For starters, the combat style they were teaching her is rather ineffective as a direct combat technique. Lanstar's personality and potential capabilities are better suited to the front lines, but they tried to shoehorn her into a support role instead, for some reason. On top of that, the shooting style of Midchildan magic seems to lack power. She would have to pour in everything she had just to knock a single opponent unconscious with it; she would not only be wasting time and effort, but the strain on her body could be quite unhealthy. Before her ship's AI 'upgraded' her, her body was already on the way to a breakdown.

"Second, whoever trained her did _not _do so correctly _at all_. According to records, TSAB Captain Takamachi specializes in bombardment-type magic – direct-fire artillery, basically. She was inexperienced in shooting-type magic, or at least not experienced enough to qualify to formally teach it to someone else. She also seems to have disregarded Lanstar's psychological profile, trying to force the kid into a role that wasn't right for her. She should've passed the girl on to someone else, someone better suited to training her".

"Not only that," said Kelly-087, as she walked through the door, "but they were teachin' her the wrong type of combat style to begin with. This kid isn't meant to be a long-range specialist. I was just testing her a few hours ago, seeing what came easy to her, and she's got tremendous potential as a close-up blade combat specialist. She got a hold of one of our ceremonial swords, and within 20 minutes it was like she'd had it for years. The kid's practically a prodigy with a sword. …Don't we have a few captured Covenant plasma swords lying around somewhere?"

"I think that giving her plasma swords," Halsey replied, "may be unnecessary. I've been studying her… Device, and its… _his _design seems highly modular. Cross Mirage can still access magic, and it may be possible to somehow create an energy blade mode for Mirage".

"One more thing, ma'am" Kelly continued. "Although she's definitely got something going for her in melee, her skills with a gun aren't too shabby, either. Perhaps if we could make some add-ons or more new modes for her Device, so that she could shoot things that actually do damage."

"I'll get Cortana and the boys in R&D to help me come up with something" Halsey stated. "Find her, and tell her about her capabilities, her lack of proper training, and ask if I can borrow Cross Mirage for a few days."

"Yes, ma'am" the two Spartans said simultaneously, and then turned to leave. Halsey got out her datapad. "Cortana?" she spoke into air.

"Yes, doctor" the currently-disembodied voice replied.

"Get to it."

"Yes, ma'am."

**March 13****th****, 2552**

Teana stood outside the R&D briefing room, wearing a dark grey suit that she'd been lent, as she pondered.

The day after arriving at Reach, as soon as she was done being politely interrogated by ONI, she'd spent several hours going over the history of this realm. She'd been utterly horrified. Back in 2525, the galaxy-wide human population had been around 25.2 billion. Now, after 26 ½ years of war against the unstoppable, take-no-prisoners alien juggernaut that was the Covenant, humanity was down to around 9.3 billion, including the 700 million currently on Reach, and the 8.2 billion in the Sol System, mostly based on this realm's UA97 – Earth.

These people had never discovered magic, so instead they'd developed pure technology in ways that more than made up for it. Their soldiers were better trained than the average TSAB grunt, and their mass-based weapons tech could rival bombardment magic in destructiveness. Their starships didn't have shields like the Bureau's did, but they made up for it with their armaments – thermonuclear fusion warheads, and tremendous coilguns. The geosynchronous orbital cannons packed enough punch – 9.98 teratons per shot – to decimate any Bureau ship, shields and all, with a single shot. And keep going with enough force left over to take out _another _ship. And according to records, they were just as effective against Covenant ships, whose shields were _slightly _tougher than those of the TSAB's warships.

What was most amazing, though, were their artificial intelligence and medical tech. Their linear, or 'dumb', AIs could compete with the highest-capability Midchildan Intelligent Devices, and their adaptive, or 'smart', AIs could outdo a Unison Device without too much trouble. Their medical technology was decades ahead, as well. Biofoam had so much value that, were the TSAB to find out about it, they'd probably pay the UNSC millions for how to make it. And the ability to flash-clone cells, tissues, and even entire organs would completely revolutionize Bureau medicine. Even paralysis could be cured by clone-growing nerve cells, and cancer – already on its way out in Bureau society – had been more or less gone in the UNSC for over a century.

(AN: The UNSC's predecessor's doctors also eliminated AIDS in 2089)

The UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence utterly outclassed any intelligence agency the Bureau could offer. And where the TSAB had only existed in its currently state for about 75 years, the UNSC had over three centuries of experience under its belt.

The only problem was that, for all its greatness, the UNSC was still outnumbered, outgunned, and out-motivated by the Covenant. At its prime, a quarter-century ago, the UNSC would've made the TSAB look nearly pathetic in comparison, but now, in its badly battered state, it was, though still brilliant, a shadow of its former glory. Even so, the UNSC's general practice of choosing quality over quantity meant that humanity was putting up one hell of a fight. Thinking of the Covenant's properties, Teana honestly doubted that the TSAB could've lasted as long as the UNSC had. Even whittled down, the UNSC Navy's current total ship count of 467 was on par, capability-wise, with the TSAB's 612.

The last several days had been rather interesting for Teana. She'd quickly been informed how a lot of the blame for her past lackluster performance was improper training. She'd also been informed of her innate specialty, and had been practicing close-quarters. She'd also started learning "proper" gun-usage from Linda-058, who'd found the teen to be a startlingly quick learner. Already Linda was working on introducing Teana to sniping.

Teana had been told about the tech-heads working on her Device, trying to come up with new modes. She felt a little skeptical, but for some reason, knowing that Dr. Halsey was working on the team put her at ease; the woman had a grandmotherly air that helped Teana to trust her.

A door opened, and she was called in. Dr. Halsey sat at a table. On the table sat Cross Mirage, currently in card form. What was white was now light silver, and the red had a faint gold outline. A few technicians stood in the background.

"What do you have for me, ma'am" Teana asked, trying to sound as respectful as she could.

"Our technicians and I have made several changes that I think you'll appreciate" Halsey replied. An 'ahem' from the side caught her attention, and she looked at the small holo-projector sitting there. "Cortana helped, too, of course". The AI smiled and nodded, satisfied.

"Go ahead and activate it, please" Halsey stated. Teana walked over and picked up the card. "Greetings, master" he said, "glad to be at your side again."

Teana allowed herself to smile. Mirage had been her one constant companion and friend, always supporting her in every decision she made. Truth be told, she'd come to care for him as much as she did for Subaru and her own dearly departed brother. Things didn't feel right without him with her.

She mentally commanded Mirage to activate. In a flash of orange light, the Device transformed. Now in Teana's hands sat a pistol, but it was different from Mirage's old mode. This new form had a slightly longer barrel, and the barrel was not as bulky as the old one. The circle-with-x was a little smaller, and just in front of it, at the base of the barrel, on the right-hand side of the gun, was a slot. Teana recognized the cartridge ejection port of a mass-based weapon. She summoned the other gun in her left hand, and it was exactly the same except for having the ejection port on the left side. The breech-loading part was gone, though.

"We've managed to set up a portal system, based on a technology found aboard the _Starshot_," Halsey described, "linked to a subspace ammunition foundry aboard your ship. Essentially, these portals ensure that you will never run out of ammo, or even need to reload. Cross Mirage's pistol form now fires UNSC-type projectiles – specifically, the .45-caliber Semi-Armor-Piercing High-Explosive bullets used in our M6 series of pistols. There is a 2x zoom function linked to your armor's HUD. Now, Mode PR".

"Plasma Bolt Mode" Cross Mirage spoke, and its form shifted. While staying mostly the same, the barrel had again changed. Now, at the end, just inside a protective depression, a pair of small prongs connected a tiny blue constant spark. The shell ejector ports were gone, replaced by a set of currently-closed vents on both sides of each gun.

"This is, essentially, the same type of weapon as the Covenant Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle, or plasma rifle. It fires bolts of superheated plasma on full auto. After 5 seconds of continuous fire, the gun will temporarily cease working, and the vents on the side will expel excess heat for about 4 seconds, after which the weapon can continue firing. Though we still don't know how to replace the batteries that Covenant plasma weapons use, we don't need to here. Mirage's plasma bolt mode draws the hydrogen fluoride that it uses to create plasma from a series of storage tanks aboard your currently-MIA starship. These tanks are refueled by the ship's own portal system, drawing the raw atomic materials from across space. How exactly it does this I am not certain. The point is, though, that you need never worry about running out of ammunition".

A metal plate hanging from wires descended from the ceiling nearby. Halsey nodded her head toward it. Teana aimed at the plate, and pulsed the triggers. Glowing blue bolts shot from her guns, impacting the metal plate and making it glow from heat. Sizzling metal could be heard. The plate rose, being sprayed with liquid nitrogen when it returned to its compartment. Teana nodded approvingly.

"I should say," Halsey said, "that though you strongly distrust magic at the moment, the technology that your ship's ancient makers used in their teleportation seems to run partly off it. Considering that the ship was made using technology millennia ahead of ours, I believe it's trustworthy". Teana was uneasy, but accepted it. Whoever constructed the _Starshot _obviously knew what they were doing; the ship, though a destroyer, could probably trounce a TSAB battlecruiser. Especially with the ultra-powerful charged particle cannon she'd discovered (though not used); at full charge (which would take a minute to get to), the thing could probably chew through a Covenant assault carrier's shields. And the turbolasers – like straight out of Star Wars – could do some damage, too. Sadly, her ship had up and vanished, though its low-grade AI had stated that it would return to her in eight months.

"Next," Halsey continued, "is a capability that was already in your Device, merely locked. We unlocked it and made our own changes to it. Mode R."

"Rifle Mode" Cross Mirage stated, as the two pistols transformed into orange light and shot together, merging into a single object. The object took form and then materialized, and Teana was holding a rifle, about 101 centimeters long, with a scope sitting atop it, in Cross Mirage's characteristic colors, with the Device's core (the orange gem with red outline and 'x') on the side, above the trigger.

"This assault rifle can fire on single-shot, three-round burst, or full auto" a technician explained. "It uses 7.62-by-51mm Full Metal Jacket rounds, the same used in our MA5 series assault rifles and in our M392 Designated Marksman Rifle. In single-shot, with the scope, you should have a range of about 1,800 meters. The scope operates in 3x, and can see in standard or infrared. You can, er… 'summon' a silencer to the end of the barrel whenever you need to. Also, there are two underslung attachment options. Right now, that small attachment with the thin vertical opening is an energy bayonet. Try it!"

Teana willed the Device to activate its attachment. An orange blade of superheated energy sprang to life, protruding about 15 centimeters past the end of the barrel. After a few seconds, she deactivated it.

"The other attachment," the man continued, "is a 40mm grenade launcher." As he said this, Teana willed it, and in a muted flash of orange light, the bayonet generator was replaced by a slightly boxy attachment with a 4 centimeter wide hole in the front, underneath the gun's barrel.

"Now, if you would return your Device to pistol form," Halsey picked up, "we can show you the last of the new modes." Teana did so, holding a pistol in her right hand.

"I think you'll like this one, dear" she said. "We found Cross Mirage's original locked Mode 2 and replaced it with this one. Mode LS"

"Set up," Cross Mirage said, "Longsword Mode".

The gun transformed into semi-solid orange light, shifting shape in Teana's hand. When it returned to physical form, it was a grip and guard, the handle about 18 centimeters long, and within a few seconds it sprang to life. Teana started in wonder as the object in her right hand projected a meter-long blade of red-orange energy, in the shape of the blade of a double-edged medieval Terran longsword. She was expecting it to feel light due to her newfound strength, but it felt as if the blade had no weight at all!

"Does… does Spartan strength really make this much of a difference?" she wondered aloud.

"It does," Halsey replied, "but that's not why the blade feels weightless. It feels weightless because it _is _weightless. The only mass you'll notice is that of the handle. It's… supercharged subatomic particles."

That didn't make much sense, and Dr. Halsey knew it. Because it was a lie. But after talking with Cross Mirage himself, Halsey and Mirage had come to the agreement that letting Teana know that it was actually made of lethal-set superheated magical energy was a bad idea, due to Teana's current distrust/dislike of magic. Apparently, her instructors had never told her that some magic – including energy-blade magic – could be set from 'stun' to 'kill', and it was unlikely that she would listen if told in her current mindset. For now, Mirage would keep the deception going, for his master's sake.

"And, this transformation can affect the other gun, as well. So yes, you can dual-wield."

Teana stared pensively at her new blade for a moment. Then she spoke. "Cross Mirage. Set Longsword Mode as default mode."

"Yes, sir. Longsword Mode set as default form."

Teana nodded, and then willed her Device to deactivate and return to card form. She slipped the card into her pocket. She then turned to Dr. Halsey and her crew, and bowed in thanks. Halsey, quite familiar with Japanese culture (and fluent in the language), returned it.

(AN: On Midchilda, English and Japanese are the official languages. Teana, like damn near everyone else on the world, is fluent in both)

**April 18****th**** 2552**

It had been eighteen days since Teana had been assigned to Noble Team as Noble-7. The rest of the squad had been informed of everything.

Teana had, in the last month, made extraordinary progress. She had taken to UNSC protocol and tactics with surprising ease, and had rapidly honed her own skills. The rest of Noble Team had already gotten used to her, and seemed to already consider her to be truly part of the team. Carter had worked to instill proper team dynamics into her, which had been going much better than anticipated. Now, Teana didn't feel like a weak link anymore, mostly because she had the same base capabilities as the rest _and _because she finally had her own unique special skills.

Teana already had some leadership experience from her time in Task Force 6, and her newfound brainpower, her throwing herself into study & training, and her natural ability had all netted her a rank of Warrant Officer Grade 2. Not too bad, considering things (Emile: WO3; Jorge: WO5; Jun: WO4; Thom: LT; Kat: LCDR; Carter: CMDR).

Kat and Emile had been a little bit cold at first, but they'd quickly gotten to know her. Teana had an unrelenting drive to succeed and impress, and now that her self-esteem was on the fast rise, she had a bottomless determination and bravery coming to the surface. Her intelligence endeared her to Kat, and her newfound courage earned Emile's recognition; he often sparred with her, helping her hone her close-combat skills. Jun had taken to her fairly quickly. He'd continued where Linda had left off, helping the girl develop proper marksmanship and sniping skills, which she continued to develop rapidly at.

Thom and Jorge got along with her the best, though. Thom quickly became like an older brother to her, helping her fit in with the team and also helping her training and her healthy psychological development. And Jorge was fast becoming like a father to her. He saw the youth and the hints of still-untainted innocence in the girl, and resolved to safeguard that, even as he helped her become a better soldier. Jorge was a proponent of ensuring that Teana retained a kind heart even as she became a hardened warrior in the future. He also took up teaching her Hungarian, which she was learning rather quickly.

The Team's last mission three days earlier had been Teana's first encounter with the Covenant. She'd done quite well. Amongst other things, she'd single-handedly wiped out a hunting pack of Jackals led by a trio of Skirmishers, and had later punished a cocky red-armored Elite for underestimating her by literally disarming him. She'd then jammed a live grenade into the joints of his armor and then kicked him over the ledge they'd been fighting near. The grenade went off just as the thoroughly stunned Elite had fallen onto a passing Grunt pack that had stopped to watch the fight. The resulting secondary explosions as the Grunts' methane tanks went up had been satisfying.

The Elite's red helmet had, against all odds, survived the blasts. Teana kept it as a trophy. No-one else minded… especially considering that Emile was carrying a new white Elite helmet to add to his collection.

As the team headed back to base, Thom congratulated Teana on doing so well. Her helmet was off, so Teana's ensuing bright smile was visible to all. Thom was so like Tiida that she couldn't help but look up to him, and hearing his praise, followed shortly after by Jorge's, made her truly happy. Surrounded by these six, she finally felt like she truly belonged. They were her family now.

**May 25****th****, 2552**

**Terris System**

**Colony world Antioch**

Kat ran, her feet pounding the ground as her arm cradled the tactical nuke. All around her, men & women of the UNSC Marines ran, fought, and in many cases died. Fires choked the air with smoke, plasma bolts zipped past her, and explosions tore the ground. Teana ran at her side, shooting anything that so much as looked at Kat the wrong way. Kat looked down and keyed in the nuke's activation code.

Suddenly, there was a flash. Kat's ears were ringing, and the world tumbled as she was sent flying through the air. When things stopped spinning, she looked through her cracked visor, and saw Teana lying nearby, dazed and with an injured leg. She also saw the nuke, still counting down, still grasped in her hand. She tried to lift the nuke, but noticed that her arm wasn't responding, still clutching onto the device. Then she realized that the arm was no longer attached to the rest of her body.

And then Thom was there, standing above them. He looked at Kat & Teana, looked at the bomb, and then bent over and pried it from a hand that had been Kat's a minute ago. He met Teana's eyes, and his visor depolarized, allowing him to give her a sad smile. He reached up and pulled his dog-tags free, placing them in the stunned teen's hand. He gently patted her on the helmet, turned around, and took off, his jetpack rocketing him toward the hovering Covenant Battlecruiser that was preventing UNSC forces from evacuating.

As he shot off, the two female Spartans watched in confusion and horror. Teana reached out toward him, panic creeping into her as she realized what he was doing. "Thom! _Nii-san!_"

Thom ran through the corridors, reaching a platform overlooking the main hangar. He looked at the nuke's timer. 00:09. He reared back and tossed the warhead into the room. Then, he closed his eyes and smiled. _Good luck, lil' sis_

The battlecruiser blossomed into flame. The earth-shaking roar of the explosions drowned out a young girl's agonized cry of heartbroken sorrow.

**July 23****rd**** 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System**

**Reach**

It had been 27 days since Noble Team had been stationed on Reach. Teana had been promoted to Warrant Officer Grade 3. She didn't really care.

The loss of Thom had hit everyone hard, but especially her. It had taken almost two weeks before Jorge could get her to approach some semblance of her old self. He didn't blame her; she'd lost her big brother all over again.

Kat now sported a mechanical right arm, to replace the one that had been blown off. She blamed herself for getting caught in the blast, which led to Thom's death. Carter blamed himself for Thom's death as well, for not being able to think up a back-up plan for in case the bomb carrier was to be disabled after the countdown had been started. Col. Holland had been trying, without success, to convince Carter that such a thing couldn't really have been planned for.

Reach was peaceful. Beautiful mountain ranges towered near Noble Team's current base; a far cry from war-torn Antioch. The Covenant had only sent a single capital ship to assault the world. After the civilians and UNSC personnel successfully evacuated the planet, and having lost a warship, the Covenant decided that it wasn't worth taking the time and effort to glass the planet. All the same, Antioch was still now devoid of human presence. It would not be re-settled until 2560.

As Noble Team moved about their temporary base, their minds were all on the same thing: the announcement that tomorrow they would get a new Noble-6.

"I hear this guy's a hardcore Terminator" Jorge said, sitting at a table with Jun and Emile, "that he's got the 'hyper-lethal' designation. No-one besides John has ever gotten that."

"Well, we'll see if the new guy lives up to the hype" Jun replied.

Elsewhere on the planet, the first seeds of serious trouble took root.

And there we go. Next chapter, the first few pieces of shit hit the industrial-grade fan.


	3. Winter Contingency

Here's Chapter 3. The games kick in. And for anyone wondering what my fic's Noble Six looks like? My gamertag is DKN117. I have a account. Look me up. …See him? The handsome chap in red? _That's _what Six looks like in this fic.

**-SECTION BREAK-**

**Epsilon Eridani System**

**Reach**

**July 24****th**** 2552**

Teana lazed about in the shack (ONI called it a 'practically small temporary headquarters'. She called it a shack), looking around. Emile sat against a wall, polishing and sharpening his _kukri_. Kat stood off to the side, going over a datapad held in her artificial right hand. Jun was outside, sitting halfway in a parked UH-144 'Falcon', loading rounds into magazines. Jorge sat at the other end of the table from Teana, his helmet off, watching the screen on the laptop that Carter stood at, a picture of Colonel Holland accompanying images of a massive satellite dish array. Outside, a Warthog pulled up.

"Contact with Visegrád Relay was lost last night" the Colonel's voice came over the small computer's speakers. I responded with trooper fire-teams, which have since been declared MIA."

"And now you're sending us" Carter guessed.

"The Office of Naval Intelligence believes that the deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources. I disagree."

"Commander" Kat's voice called out, drawing everyone's attention to the door. There stood a new figure.

He was clad in standard MJOLNIR Mark 5-B armor, red like Teana's (excluding the gender and size difference) but with blue plates on the shoulders and hips instead of the girl's orange. A reflective blue visor obscured his face, and on his helmet was printed, in white, S-B312, and atop the helmet was a small black plate of armor.

"So that's our new #6" Jorge said, sizing up the new arrival. Teana took her helmet off, and Six watched as from the helmet came a cascade of mid-back-length red-orange hair that said helmet shouldn't have been able to hold. Then he remembered the girl's file and the accompanying data, and decided to just go with it.

"Kat," Emile piped up, "you read his file?"

"Only the parts that weren't covered in black ink." Kat replied. "Jess-B312"

"Jess?" Emile questioned, "girl's name?"

"Shut up" Jess replied, a smirk clearly evident in his tone.

Emile chuckled lightly and said "whatever".

Carter turned back to the console. "Anyone claim responsibility, sir?"

"ONI thinks it might be the local insurrection." Holland replied. "Five months ago, they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, then stole two freighters from dry-dock. That cannot happen here. Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online, Noble One."

"Sir," Carter replied, "consider it done."

"Then I'll see you on the other side. Holland out."

Jorge, Emile, and Teana donned their helmets and got up, making their way toward the door. Jess approached Carter.

"Lieutenant" Carter addressed the newbie.

"Commander, sir."

"I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader. That's Kat – Noble Two; Emile, Jorge, Teana – Four, Five, and Seven. You're riding with me, Noble Six."

The group headed for the pair of Falcons, both of which were spinning up their engines. Carter and Jess headed for the one that Jun currently occupied, while the other four climbed aboard the second craft.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant" Carter turned to Six, "you're stepping into some shoes that the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled. As for me? I'm just happy to have Noble back at full strength".

"I've seen your file" he continued as they climbed aboard and took their seats, "even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to. I'm glad to have your skill-set. But we're a team. So that 'lone-wolf' stuff stays behind. Am I clear?"

"Crystal-clear. Got it, sir" Jess responded.

The craft lifted off the ground, quickly catching up to its wing-mate. Jun turned to the newest member of Noble.

"Welcome to Reach."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

**35 minutes later**

The pair of Falcons flew through the grassy mountains near Visegrád, heading for the relay outpost. They flew low over a hill, spooking a mated pair of moas and causing the flightless birds to run for their nest. Onboard the craft, Carter briefed his team over TEAMCOM.

"Listen up, Noble. We're looking at a downed relay outpost 50 klicks from Visegrád. We're gonna introduce ourselves to whoever took it out, and then Kat's gonna get it back online."

"Just get me under the hood, sir" Noble-2 replied.

"Sir, why would rebels wanna cut off Reach from the rest of the colonies?" asked Noble-5.

"If you get a chance, maybe you can ask 'em, Jorge".

"I got a bad feeling about this" Teana muttered, accidentally broadcasting it over TEAMCOM.

"Every mission comes with a bad feeling, Seven" Jun replied. "That's part of being a Spartan."

Several seconds later, Kat gave up on fiddling with the comm.

"Commander," she said, "we just lost our signal with HQ."

"Back-up channels?"

"Searching… _nada_. Can't say what's jamming us."

"You heard her, people. Dead zone confirmed. Command will not be keeping us company on this trip."

"I'm lonely already" Emile snarked.

Up ahead, a small building came into view, drawing attention with the thin cloud of smoke rising up from its yard. The massive dishes of the relay were a little ways off. The two Falcons began to circle over it.

"Shoot-down attempts are likely," Carter radioed the pilots, "so keep your distance."

"Yes, sir" the two pilots chorused.

"There's the communications outpost" Jorge said, highlighting the dish array.

"Aim for the distress beacon" Kat said.

"Could be the missing troopers" Carter replied. "Let's check it out. Put us down on the bluff."

"Jun," Carter turned to Noble-3 as the Falcon came in for landing, "I want your eyes in the sky."

"Sir"

Carter, Emile, and Jess hopped out of the first Falcon, while Kat disembarked from the second one.

**NOBLE Team**

"All right, Noble," Carter said, "spread out. Watch the approach."

Jess, Kat, & Carter started working their way down the hill, while Emile scaled a nearby boulder and looked down at the building.

"Structure point 3-4," he reported, "looks clear from this angle." He then hopped down, misjudging the jump. His shields flared upon landing, but he was unharmed.

As the quartet reached the yard, they saw that the smoke was coming from the burnt-out wreck of a Warthog. Emile headed for a pile of plywood, and tossed it aside, uncovering a bright red object.

"Found the beacon". He tossed it to Kat.

"Make out any ID?" Carter asked her.

"Negative," she replied, "but it's military." She casually tossed it over her shoulder.

"So where are all the troopers?" Jorge wondered over the radio.

"Why are we not seeing any explosive residue?" Kat questioned.

"Noble-3," Carter called, "can you confirm any EX residue in the area?"

"Hmm… negative, sir".

"Plasma, maybe" Emile conjectured.

"Can't be," Jorge said in a worried tone, "not on Reach."

"There's a _lot _of blood on the ground" Emile continued.

"Bad feelin's gettin' worse" Teana chimed in, and Jorge grunted an agreement.

"All right, Noble," Carter said after several seconds, "looks like there's nothing here. Let's move on."

"Smoke at the next structure, Boss" Kat pointed out another wispy grey column.

"Circle west and check it out" Carter ordered. "Noble Team, you have permission to engage. But be selective; we don't need to telegraph our presence."

The four Spartans went around the house, passing a pair of panicky moas. Something had spooked them, as they almost ran into the Spartans in their attempt to get away from where the four were headed.

"Noble-Six," Carter gestured to Jess and then toward the next building, "move into the house. Go in quiet. We're right behind you."

Jess moved through the strangely vacant house. On a stove sat an empty pot, no scraps of food in it. Whatever had happened, the occupants hadn't even had time to start making dinner before fleeing.

"Noble Leader," Jun said over the radio, "I'm seeing heat sigs in the structure ahead!"

The four approached a house. Nearby, Jorge & Teana disembarked from the second Falcon and approached the front door. The door opened, revealing two men and a woman, obviously civilian.

"_Én nem csináltam semmit_!" the man said he hadn't done anything.

"On your knees! Now!" Emile shouted, the trigger-happy soldier pointing his shotgun at the man, who raised his hands while saying "_Ne lőjön_!", or "don't shoot!".

"They're not rebels." Jorge admonished his shorter comrade, grabbing the barrel of the shotgun and pushing it away. "They're farmers."

"Ask them what they're doing here" Carter ordered.

"_Mit kerestek itt_?" Jorge asked the man.

The man began to explain, and Jorge & Teana turned to their commander.

"Hiding, sir" Teana said, having already become rather fluent in Hungarian thanks to Jorge.

"Neighbors were attacked last night" Jorge continued. "He heard screams; gunfire. He says that something in the fields… killed his son."

"Some_thing_?" Carter asked. "Don't you mean some_one_?"

"No, sir" Teana replied. "He didn't say '_valaki_', 'someone'. He said '_vmit_' – some_thing_." Processing this made the girl more nervous, and she shifted Mirage to rifle form.

(AN: I used Halopedia transcript and a Google-found English-to-Hungarian translator. Forgive me if I'm horribly wrong here)

"Commander, be advised" Jun interrupted over the radio, "I'm reading het signatures at the structure directly east from your position. Over."

"Copy that" Carter replied, then turned to Jorge. "Get them back inside."

Jorge nodded and turned to the civilians, hefting his machine gun. "_Azt mondtam, befelé_! Get in!" The three civvies scrambled into the house and locked the door. They realized that the Spartans were going to go save the day, and didn't want to risk getting caught in it.

The six Spartans sprinted over to the structure, where they found a grisly sight. Human bodies lay about the room, each accompanied by a considerable amount of blood.

"Damn…" Carter swore under his breath.

"Fill me in, Commander," Jun asked, "what are you seeing?"

"We've got casualties," Carter replied, "two of the missing troopers".

"And five civilians" Teana added. "It looks like they were all interrogated… or maybe just tortured. It's… messy."

As the group walked through an elongated storage room, clanging could be heard on the sheet-metal roof above them.

"What the hell is that?" Emile pointed his shotgun at the ceiling.

"Jun, do you see anything?" Kat asked.

"Negative. Thermal's clean."

The six went through a small courtyard, cautiously entering another building.

"Boss," Jun called, "I see movement outside your structure."

"Noble-2, move up to the west" Carter ordered. "We're about to be flanked."

The gang moved in, and as Jess reached an open window he looked left, and saw something that made a rock form in the pit of his stomach. He took aim with his pistol and fired, blowing the perched Skirmisher's brains out. Teana saw the toppling alien body and blanched in horror, calling out over the comm. the one word that let Noble Team know that things had just gotten very, very bad.

"Covenant!"

As if on cue, three more Skirmishers raced out from cover, dashing toward the building. Teana took one down with a three-shot burst to the chest. A pack of Grunts then emerged.

"Damn it! Not here!" Jorge cried out.

The rest of the squad opened fire, taking down half the Grunt pack before the rest got behind cover. Jess leapt through the window, dropping nine feet to the ground below, and raised his assault rifle, opening up on a Grunt Ultra, the pack leader. Seven rounds impacted and shattered the front of the alien's helmet, splattering the creature's grey matter inside the white metal helmet that formerly protected it. Meanwhile, Carter and Emile grabbed three frag grenades and threw two of them into the basement, killing the Skirmishers that had holed up in there. The squad formed up in the courtyard, quickly mowing down the rest of the Grunt pack. One Grunt, badly wounded, tried to crawl away, only for Teana to stomp on its neck, crushing the vertebrae and the spine they protected.

Up above, the Falcon with Jun in it did battle with a pair of Banshees. One alien flier dropped to the ground, its anti-grav pods shredded by bullets, and the vehicle landed in the river and quickly went over the cliff edge. The other Banshee soon went up in flames, the small explosion ending the Elite pilot's life before he could hit the ground.

The group crossed the river, and just as they reached the other side, a Covenant 'Spirit' dropship came low and disgorged its troops – another, larger pack of Grunts lead by a trio of Skirmishers. Teana opened up on full auto on a quartet of Grunts, while Jorge mowed down seven more. Kat and Carter quickly killed two of the Skirmishers, and Jess shot the third one from behind as it tried to flee. Emile used his kukri to take out the last two Grunts.

"Stand down, Noble" Carter called, "stand down. Contacts neutralized."

"Contacts?" Jorge snapped, "It's the damn Covenant! On my homeworld!"

"Cheer up, big man" Emile replied, "this whole valley just turned into a free-fire zone."

"Kat," Carter said, "we've got to warn Holland. I need you at that relay outpost _now_."

The team reached another river, and as they ran across it Jess opened fire on a trio of Grunts with his pistol. No sooner did the group reach the fallen bodies, however, then a trio of white-armored Elite Ultras emerged, opening fire with plasma repeaters.

Emile rushed the closest one, shoulder-checking it and then drawing his shotgun. Two point-blank-range shots took down the Elite's shields and blew its chest out. Teana scooped up a plasma grenade from a Grunt's corpse, primed and threw it. It landed near the Elite's feet. The Elite dove to the side, but the blast still hit its shields, causing them to flare a bright blue. She followed with a burst of automatic fire that took down the weakened shields and tore the alien's neck open. It reached its hands up to its bloody throat, and then collapsed. The third Elite scurried behind a hay bale, its shields being peppered by Jorge's heavy machinegun. Jess pursued it and opened fire with his MA37 assault rifle, wearing the Elite's shields down and forcing it to backpedal out into the open. Two rifle shots from Carter punched through the shields and then through the Elite's skull; the lifeless body toppled to the ground.

As the group secured the area, Jess grabbing a plasma repeater, Jun radioed in again.

"Boss, I'm seeing more hostile activity to the east."

"Copy that" Carter replied. "Emile, Teana, you're with Kat. Six, Five, and I will run interference on the ground. We'll meet you at the outpost."

Kat nodded and signaled the Falcon. "Noble-2, requesting airlift"

The three Spartans went down the hill, approaching a flatbed truck. Jess hopped in the driver's seat, Carter took shotgun, and Jorge hopped on the back, mounting his machinegun. The truck started up and drove down the slope.

**Rebels Don't Leave Plasma Burns**

The truck drove through the valley, gunning down a few Skirmishers and road-killing a quintet of Grunts. Jess briefly stopped a few times to swap out his pistol, picking up a needle rifle and some ammo for it. Eventually, they reached a wide building. They disembarked and ran in, taking out a Grunt pack headed by an Elite Major, who had his shields worn down by Jess' plasma repeater, and then his brains blown out by a shot from Carter's DMR. They then headed back to the truck.

"Noble Leader," Jun radioed, "I'm picking up a distress signal". The radio then broadcasted the sound of a shell-shocked marine.

"Mayday! Three-Charlie-Six, does anyone read? We've been attacked by Covenant forces! The Covenant are on Reach! I repeat, the Covenant are on Reach!"

"Let's move, Six" Carter said to the Jess as the red-armored Spartan started up the truck again. "We've gotta find the source of that distress call."

"No disrespect," Jun replied over the comm., "but don't we have better things to do than round up strays?"

"We don't leave people behind" Carter admonished him, "If you see those troopers, let me know."

As the truck drove up a hill, flattening a pair of Skirmishers at the top, they heard the muted whine of a Spirit's anti-grav engines, and the pulse of its turret firing.

The truck rounded a corner just in time for the Spirit to drop off a pack of Grunts led by a blue-armored Elite and then bug out. Jess floored the accelerator, crushing four of the Grunts, and then leapt out of the vehicle, using his last assault rifle magazine to gun down five more Grunts. Jorge used his machinegun to drain the Elite's shields, and Jess shot it in the head with his needle rifle. The trio then ran to the building, where they found four tired-looking marines holed up in defensive position.

"Noble-3," Carter radioed, "we've located the trooper squad. Request immediate evac; my coordinates."

"Solid copy, Commander" Jun replied. "Recalling Falcon Charlie-2. Hold that position. Be advised; two Covenant dropships inbound."

"Evac transport, keep your distance!" Carter ordered, then turned to the others. "We need to hold out for a bit."

"Spartans?" the exhausted fireteam leader walked up. "Corporal Travis, 3-Charlie, sir. It's the Covenant…"

"We know, Corporal" Carter replied, trying to get the man to buck up, "let's get you out of here."

A Spirit dropship flew in, dropping off six Grunts, a Jackal, and a red-armored Elite. Jess dropped the needle rifle in favor of a DMR lying inside the shed, and began picking off Grunts. A marine threw a grenade; the resulting explosion and shrapnel killed the Jackal and two Grunts. Jess fired bursts from his plasma repeater at the Elite, who then ducked behind the stump of a tree. Jorge responded by firing _through _the tree, the armor-piercing bullets punching through bark, draining the Elite's weakened shields, and tearing through its torso. It leaned around the tree, raised its plasma rifle to fire, but then collapsed and died from its wounds.

Another Spirit flew in, dropping off seven more Grunts and two Elites, a major and an ultra. Carter stuck the Elite Major with a plasma grenade, and the blast also killed four Grunts that had gotten too close to their leader. The marines gunned down the other three Grunts, one of them quickly tossing his helmet aside in panic after a plasma bolt grazed it, preventing his scalp from being seared by the now-very-hot metal.

The Elite Ultra roared and charged, firing its needle rifle. Jorge dropped his machinegun, gave a battle cry, and charged the Elite, the needle rounds pinging off his shields. The momentum-enhanced punch drained the Elite's shields and crushed its throat, sending it flying backward. Jorge stepped over the fallen Elite and killed it with a boot to the skull. He then calmly walked back and retrieved his gun.

"Transport," Carter radioed, "LZ is clear. Move in for evac."

As the Falcons descended, Jess handed his plasma repeater – still 56% charged – to a marine who'd exhausted his assault rifle's ammunition, and then went back and grabbed the needle rifle he'd set down earlier, pilfering three clips of ammo from the dead Elite Ultra, and picking up two frag grenades from next to a destroyed Warthog. He then walked over and climbed aboard the nearest Falcon alongside Jorge and Carter.

The small gunship went airborne and started heading along the cliffside road, toward the relay outpost. "Noble-2" Carter radioed, "sit-rep"

"We're at the relay outpost" Kat replied. "Door's locked; mechanism's been flash-fused."

"Can you beat it?"

"I'll dial up my torch, cut a way through. Gonna take some time."

"Okay. We're en route to your location."

After several seconds, the Falcon neared the objective. A pack of Jackals and Grunts were pouring fire into the open facility.

"Approaching the comm. outpost" the pilot said, circling the Falcon overhead.

"Drop us in the courtyard" Carter ordered.

"LZ's a little hot, sir" the pilot worried.

"Put her down, pilot. Six, break's over."

The trio hopped out of the Falcon, which quickly took off, heading away from the hot zone. Jess approached the edge, spotting a quartet of Jackals. They'd overlapped their shields and were firing toward the open door. He tossed a frag grenade amongst them, and they were shredded by the blast. From cover, Teana fired a 40mm grenade into a formation of Grunts, killing three and stunning two more. Carter gunned the two survivors down. Jorge linked up with Emile, taking position around the door. Just inside, Kat worked diligently at a console, typing away at her datapad.

"How we doin', Kat?" Carter bugged.

"Taking a little longer than I'd hoped, Commander" she replied. "I've cut about halfway through the door."

"Dropship inbound!" Emile hollered.

"Hold them off so Kat can hack the controls!" Carter ordered. A Spirit flew in, disgorging several Grunts, three Jackals, two Skirmishers, and a blue-armored Elite. The Elite went right, entering the neighboring structure in a flanking attempt. Teana ran into the building's other door, meeting the alien head-on. She bashed him upside the head with Mirage's rifle form, and then drew the shotgun she'd found inside the building. A single close-up shot, and the Elite was down.

Meanwhile, Jess lobbed a plasma grenade at the three Jackals. The two in the back withstood it behind their shields, but the lead one's shield failed and it was killed by the blast. Jess then opened fire with his DMR, taking down Grunts and a Skirmisher. Jorge gunned the other Skirmisher down, while Carter and Teana used full-auto to take out the rest of the Grunts and the two Jackals.

Another Spirit popped over the nearby hill, heading closer to the base. Teana and Emile rushed back to the main building, while Carter and Jorge stood just outside it.

"Kat?" Carter asked an unspoken question.

"Just about… there! We're in!"

"Everyone inside! Go! Go! Go!"

The Spartans fell back inside the building, and the door began to close just as the Spirit dropped its troops. Jess threw his last frag grenade, killing another four Jackals and a Grunt, while Teana, having switched Cross Mirage to dual pistol form, head-shot two Grunt Majors and a Skirmisher. The door finally sealed shut, and soon the sounds of dull thuds could be heard as the Covenant tried and failed to break through. After several seconds, it stopped, and faint cries of frustration could be heard, including a Grunt cursing in English. This particular skirmish was over.

**Skeleton Crew**

Carter addressed the team. "We need to find the control room. From there, Kat can get the relay back online. Emile, post here. If we flush any hostiles, they're yours. All right, let's do this".

The inner door opened, Jess dropping his empty needle rifle for an assault rifle that was mounted on the door, grabbing six clips for it. As the team made their way through the dark corridors, they rounded a corner and saw a tall console. At the foot of it, face-down in a puddle of blood, lay an old man, quite dead. "Noble-6," Kat said, "search that body."

Jess walked up to the corpse, and then was briefly distracted by a groan. He looked up, and saw a UNSC Army trooper sitting against the wall, his armor bloody. He was moving. Teana and Carter walked up to him.

"Where's the rest of your unit?" the teen Spartan asked.

The trooper shook his head and rasped out an answer. "We got separated. I don't think they… it sounded bad on the comms."

"All right, Corporal, stay put" Carter ordered gently. "We'll get you a combat surgeon."

Jess went back to the old man's body and tried to turn it over. As he lifted the shoulder, a data module tumbled onto the floor from the man's jacket pocket.

"Damn," Kat cursed nearby, examining the console. "Plasma damage"

"Found something" Jess lifted the module.

"I'll take that, Six," Kat rather harshly snatched it from his hand, "Not your domain."

"I've got a live one over here!"

Everyone turned to see Jorge, holding on to the forearm of a young adult woman, who was shouting in Hungarian and ineffectually punching at his chest armor.

"It's all right" Jorge tried to reassure the woman, to no avail, "we're not gonna hurt you!"

"Jorge…"

"I've got her, sir". Jorge then put down his machinegun, freeing his other hand as he grabbed hold of the woman's upper arms. "Keep still, and I'll release you."

The girl stopped thrashing and then looked up at him. "_Még... Itt vannak_"

'There's more…'

Jorge's quick Spartan mind which recognized and processed these words, combined with his superhuman Spartan reflexes, meant that he responded to the following _thump _behind him by instantly ducking, allowing the previously-hidden Elite Field Marshall's plasma sword to pass through the spot that his neck had occupied a second earlier.

The Elite roared at the rest of Noble and charged, while two more Elite Zealots jumped down from their hiding spaces.

"What's your status, over?" Emile radioed, hearing the commotion.

"We've been engaged!" Teana and Carter simultaneously replied, as Carter pulled Kat & Teana down out of the way of a sword swing, while Jess poured AR fire into the beast's shields. Just as the shields finally gave, the Elite knocked Jess aside and off his feet, making a break for the exit.

"Bad guy comin' out!" Carter shouted over the radio to Emile.

Another Zealot grabbed hold of Jess and pinned him to the wall, activating a glove-mounted plasma dagger. Jess punched it in the face, and then Kat hit it with a haymaker to the side of the head, Teana firing at the thing's shields, popping them. The Elite scrambled away before she could kill it.

Carter kicked Jess' assault rifle back to him. The Zealot ran over to join its comrade, holding its side from a minor graze, the other Elite holding the wounded Corporal. The young woman began screaming in panic.

"That tango blew past me" Emile radioed. "Permission to pursue?"

"Negative, Four" Carter replied, as the Corporal screamed as he was executed by the Elite, "stay on the entrance. Two and Seven, handle her (he gestured to the panicking girl). Five and Six, clear the hole".

Jorge and Jess advanced on the door, Jess ejecting the nearly-empty assault rifle magazine and slapping in a fresh one. They went through, Jorge closing the door behind him. Jess grabbed more DMR ammo from a nearby mount, picking up a pair of grenades as well. Jorge tossed a flare in, as Jess activated his VISR system – a relatively new development for the Spartans, set to be introduced to the ODSTs on October 1st. Instantly the area was highlighted in yellow. Jorge glowed green, and multiple reds marked five Grunts, three Jackals, and an Elite Zealot who quickly ran down a hallway to the right.

Jorge tossed a frag grenade, and the device killed two Jackals and two Grunts. Jess mowed down the rest with his assault rifle. As the two reached the hallway, Jess quickly tossed another frag, killing the Jackal and three Grunts waiting in it. He then dashed ahead, gunning down four Grunts behind the next corner, using the rifle butt to kill the last one after his magazine ran dry. He reloaded, and picked up a plasma pistol. 89% charged. Perfect.

The two reached another large room, and Jorge told Jess to move in and flush the Covvies out. A trio of Grunts wandered out, looking for their quarry, and the night-vision-assisted Jess used three DMR shots to kill them in less than a second. He hopped down and climbed the stairs, reaching the open area. Seconds later, one of the Zealots came charging out, plasma sword blazing… and was shield-stripped by an overcharged shot from Jess' plasma pistol. A rifle bullet to the skull put the alien warrior down.

He advanced to a small room ahead, another overcharged shot ready. But when he entered the room, the gun was knocked from his hand, the bolt melting into the ceiling. The other Zealot then struck with a right cross, draining Jess' shields by 2/3. Jess countered with a kick to the midsection. The Elite roared, and then grasped Jess by the throat, lifting him off the ground.

So Jess kicked it between the legs.

Sangheili, like Terran reptiles, have internal genitalia, so it didn't hurt as much as it would've had his target been a human. But it still hurt like hell, especially when backed by Spartan strength. The stunned Elite was then head-butted, causing it to reflexively let go of the human, who then dove for the plasma pistol, charged a shot, and let fly. The Elite's shields were stripped, and a burst of assault rifle fire brought it down.

Jorge wandered into the room, observed Jess' handiwork, and nodded. He radioed Carter. "Noble-5 reporting. Contacts neutralized."

"Kat needs you to reset a junction" Carter replied, "Do it and get back up here."

Jess walked over to a panel on the nearby generator, and pressed a highlighted button. He and Jorge then made their way back.

"How long?" Carter asked his second-in-command, who was currently sifting through cable and wire.

"Question of my life…" Kat replied. "If the question is 'when will this station be back online'? Two weeks, earliest. This is plasma damage; all major uplink components are fried."

"Two minutes is too long."

"Which is why I'm splicing into the main overland bundle to get you a direct link to Colonel Holland. …You're in my light, Commander."

Carter smirked behind his visor, and stepped back. He turned to Jorge, who was guarding the girl who was now sitting against the wall, curled up. "Find out what she knows."

Jorge tapped the girl's shoulder, and she shoved his hand off. Emile chuckled and turned to Jess, while Teana quashed an instinct to snap at the girl for being rude to Jorge.

"What's your name?" Jorge asked, taking a gentle tone. "Do you live around here?"

He removed his helmet. "_A nevem _Jorge"

"Sára" the girl replied, without lifting her head.

"Sára… _szép határozott név_. Your accent sounds familiar. _Sopron_?"

"…_Tengeri_."

Jorge looked at the old man's body, which Teana had earlier turned face-up, closed the eyelids of, and folded the arms over the chest. "Friend of yours?"

"…My father"

"_Sajnálom_. I'm sorry."

"Why would you be?" Sára responded coldly. Jorge leaned back as if struck, a sad look on his face.

"Big man forgets what he is sometimes" Emile snarked to Jess.

"She just lost her father" Jorge responded coldly to Emile as he passed, before turning to Carter. "She needs a full psychiatric workup."

"She's not the only one."

Jorge turned to snap at Emile, as did Teana.

"Lock it down, all of you." Carter stopped the incoming fight. "Get her on her feet… the body stays here."

"Thank you, sir" Jorge replied. He death-glared at Emile as he passed, and then extended his hand to Sára. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet, and the two walked toward the exit, Teana putting an arm around the girl's shoulder.

"Signal!" Kat shouted triumphantly. "It's patchy, but it's there!"

"I'll take it" Carter replied, a bit of relief in his voice.

"Best not touch anything" Kat said, "you wouldn't want to ground this place". With that, she followed Jess and Emile out, as Carter turned to the radio.

"I'm barely getting you" Col. Holland's voice came over the radio, slightly staticy. "What's your status, over?"

"Colonel," Carter said, speaking up to be heard over the static, "this is Noble-1. There are no rebels. The Covenant are on Reach. Acknowledge?"

"…Come again, Noble-1? Did you say Covenant?"

"Affirmative. It's the Winter Contingency, sir."

"…May God help us all…"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

Teana becomes more important to things later, but for her time with Noble, she's going to more often than not take a back-seat plot-wise. Just a heads-up. Next time, Noble Team heads to SWORD Base.


	4. Sword Base

EDITED/UPDATED 2/8/14

Here's Chapter 4 - the first hint (in-universe, anyway) that things aren't gonna be as easy as they thought...

And for those buggin', I'll say it now: Teana _will_ make a rather big difference in later Books, and even later on in this book (especially once the events of _Halo 3_ kick in). But here, on Reach, she won't be able to save Noble. And that's going to haunt her for the rest of the series.

**-****_CHAPTER START_****-**

**Reach**

**Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz**

**July 26****th****, 2552**

The glaciers echoed with the rapid throbbing beat of whirling rotor blades, as a pair of Falcons flew between them. In one sat Carter, Emile, Jorge, and Jun; the other carried Kat, Jess, and Teana.

"_Be advised, Kilo-23 and Kilo-24,_" Sword Control called, "_your LZ is too hot._"

"Roger that," Carter replied. "Dot, standby to receive and respond."

As the two craft passed a large island, a blue-and-purple craft hung in the sky, slowly advancing toward the base.

COVENANT _VIGILANCE_-CLASS CORVETTE – 956 METERS

"Yes, Commander" replied Noble's linear, or 'dumb', AI, Dot. "Coordinates received. Initiating immediate course correction. The Office of Naval Intelligence Sword Base is presently under siege from a Covenant _Vigilance_-class Corvette. Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has been, for the moment, prohibited. Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful. However, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Team Noble's direct intervention to help secure Sword Base."

"Alright, people," Carter briefed his team, "we're stuck with that ship for the time being. Let's focus on the hostile infantry – give those troopers a hand."

The Falcons flew over a courtyard; down below, marines and army troopers traded fire with a force of Covenant soldiers, led by a white-armored Elite Ultra and guided by a pair of red-armored Elite Majors. A blue-armored Elite Minor was in the mix as well. The rest were Grunts and a few Jackals. The second Falcon swooped in for a drop-off.

"Kat, Jess, Tia, you're out here" Carter said. "Jorge, Emile, you're next; get prepped."

"Let's move, you two" Kat ordered, as she and her two subordinate Spartans hopped out of the Falcon, which quickly took off.

**The Best Defense…**

"Noble Strike, push back the attack on Sword Base" Carter ordered. "Find out what we're dealing with."

"Roger that", Kat replied. As she spoke, Teana and Jess used rifle shots to kill a quartet of Grunts who'd come to investigate. Two shots each, two kills each. The trio then ran up a nearby ramp, almost running into a red-shielded Jackal. Jess kicked the shield, throwing the Jackal off-balance, and Teana quickly shot it through the now-exposed head.

"Let's knock some heads, guys!" Kat called, drawing the two red-armored Spartans' attention to the courtyard below. Jess scavenged two clips of DMR ammo from a fallen trooper, and started picking off Jackals – shooting each Jackal in the hand, and then shooting the head when they reflexively reacted to the pain. A marine tossed a frag grenade, and it killed five Grunts. An army trooper took a needler round through the eye; it went off a second later, shredding the inside of his skull and killing him instantly. His comrades returned the favor five-fold, overwhelming the shields of the needler-wielding Elite Minor and filling its belly with hot lead. The saurian keeled over.

Teana, meanwhile, had sprinted along the upper walkway, snapping the neck of a Jackal Minor that got in her way, and had found an area overlooking the rear of the courtyard, where the enemy leadership was firing from. She found an SRS99C sniper rifle leaning against the wall, along with two additional clips of ammo, giving her 12 rounds total. She took aim, and fired at the head of the Elite Ultra. The platoon commander alien's shields protected it, though they were completely drained in the process, and the stunned Elite had its brains blown out by Teana's second shot before it could gather itself. One of the red-armored Elites made a dive for cover, but by some combination of skill and luck, Teana's third shot went through its neck, severing its spine and scattering thoracic contents on the pavement beyond.

The third Elite was in a position where Teana, her fourth shot failing to punch through the cover, couldn't get a clean shot… but Jess could, hitting its upper arm with DMR shots. The full-body shield was being worn down, and the Elite tried to shift to different cover, firing as it did. Jess' shields took the plasma bolts as he continued to fire as fast as his trigger finger could twitch. The Elite's shields failed, and two final shots pierced its chest, taking out both of the alien's hearts. Violet blood pooled beneath the fallen alien.

While the Elites were being dealt with, Kat and the soldiers had wiped out the rest of the Grunts and Jackals. A quartet of Skirmishers then charged up the nearby slope, only to be torn to shreds by concentrated assault rifle fire. Teana reloaded her sniper rifle and hopped down to join the others.

"Noble-2 to Sword Control" Kat radioed, "Courtyard is clear."

"_Head to the main gate to the east_" Control replied, "_I'll brief you as you go._"

The gate opened as the group approached, revealing several ordnance packs. Teana grabbed four more clips of sniper ammo. Jess gathered another DMR clip, grabbed an Armor Lock module, and also snatched up a bizarre-looking device.

"Sword Control," Kat radioed, "we've found a target locator. Any artillery support in the area?"

"_Limited, but we'll prioritize whatever you need, ma'am._"

The gate opened, the joint UNSC platoon spilling through.

**Get the Hell Off My Lawn!**

There was a gradual slope going down from their position. In the sky above and to the right, the Corvette opened fire on Sword Base's main building, firing its (by Covenant standards) low-power plasma torpedo bolts at the structure. A Troop Transport Warthog, flames spewing from its engines, drove into view.

"_3-Echo-57 heading back to base,_" the Hog's passenger radioed, "_but we've got enemy tangos on our six. How copy?_"

Before anyone could respond, a plasma mortar flew in and hit the Warthog dead-on, vaporizing its three occupants and sending bits of melted, flaming metal flying everywhere. A Wraith slid into view from the left, followed shortly thereafter by another Wraith from the right path. Jess pulled up the target locator and looked through its scope, projecting a thin green laser onto the nearest Wraith. The farther Wraith fired a shot, and upon its landing two marines and an army trooper standing near the gate ceased to exist.

The artillery barrage hit home. By a stroke of luck, the second Wraith had pulled up behind the first one, close enough that the artillery strike destroyed both of them, the tanks going up in twin gouts of bluish-white flame.

Signaled by the Wraiths' destruction, a Pelican flew in, dropping an M12 Warthog. Jess hopped in the driver's seat, Teana manned the M41 chaingun, and Kat got in the passenger's seat, her assault rifle brought to bear.

"_The old Farragut Station has its own comms array that should bring us back online with command._" Sword Control reported. "_And Airview Base has an anti-air battery that should help clear the skies._"

"AA gun is to the west," Kat said, "and comms array to the east. Which way, Six?"

Jess pulled out an old bottle cap and flipped it like a coin. It landed face-up. "AA gun it is, then." He turned right, heading west.

The Warthog bounced over a hill, landing on top of a Grunt and squishing it. Kat swept the other three with her assault rifle, while Teana turned the main gun on an approaching Ghost. A .50-caliber shell hit the Grunt driver in the skull, and the alien's head disappeared in a blue mist, leaving the riderless Ghost to automatically shut down upon detecting the death of its driver.

"I'm picking up a power source" Kat said, "We're close to the AA gun."

The Warthog rounded a corner, and the Airview Base came in site. It was crawling with Covenant.

"Hold on" Teana asked Jess to stop the vehicle, and after he did so she pulled out her sniper rifle, took aim, and fired. The Elite Ultra standing on the building's roof was sent reeling by the first shot, and the second shot punched through the disoriented Elite's shields and tore through its chest. It collapsed out of sight. Teana slung the rifle back over her shoulder and nodded to Jess, who stepped on the gas. A blue-armored Elite disappeared under the Warthog's tires, the trio being jostled around by the bumpy ride that was accompanied by a sickly crunch. Kat poured assault rifle fire into the building, downing Grunts, while Teana turned the main gun on a red-armored Elite, the alien's midsection practically evaporating under the assault.

Jess drove around and parked behind the building, under an awning, and hopped out, heading into the building and up to the roof. There, he reached the controls just as a Phantom flew in, dropping more Grunts and a pair of Elite Rangers. He hit the switch, and the AA gun came to life. It swiveled, pointed at the Phantom, and opened fire. The shots hit something vital, and the Phantom drifted out of control, leaking flames as it crashed to the ground with a loud _thud _some 60 meters away. The gun then turned its attention to a nearby Banshee, blowing the flyer out of the sky.

Jess turned around and practically ran into the first Ranger Elite. He reacted faster than the alien, punching it in the gut. A rifle butt to the helmet drained the rest of the alien's shields, and a point-blank shot splattered violet blood on the inside of the alien's helmet visor. The creature dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Jess leapt over the edge, landing 20 feet below next to the Warthog. The other Ranger followed, and was cut down by the Hog's chaingun. Jess jogged over and got in the driver's seat.

"_Nice work, Spartans_" Sword Control radioed. "_Get to Farragut Station and get that comms array up and running._"

As the vehicle passed a small shack, Teana shouted. "Wait! Hold on; I saw something! It'll just take me a few seconds!" Jess obliged, and the smaller Spartan hopped off the gun and ran inside the shack. Her eyes had not deceived her; there were three more clips of sniper ammo. She'd been trained that, in sniping, each bullet was near-invaluably vital; _twelve_ bullets were a must-have. With the three magazines on her person accompanying the four she already had, she jogged back to the Warthog and took her position on the gun. "Carry on" she said, and the Hog took off down the nearby road.

As the Warthog raced down a rocky slope, a Ghost came into view up ahead. Teana opened fire with the big gun, followed shortly by Kat and her assault rifle once they got closer. The barrage of 7.62mm and 12.7mm bullets chipped through the Ghost's front armor and hit a power cell, sparking an explosion that consumed the front half of the vehicle and its green-armored Grunt driver. Ahead, a Spirit dropped off two Elites and five Grunts. Teana gunned down a blue-armored Elite as the Warthog splattered two of the Grunts, and Kat raked assault rifle fire across the other three low-status enemies. The Hog spun around to a stop, facing the red-armored Elite, and before Jess could hit the gas, he saw the alien's head explode, accompanied by a sharp _crack _directly above and behind him, his helmet's systems protecting his hearing. 'Tia's on a roll today' he thought. He spun the Hog 180 degrees again and headed up the rocky slope.

The Warthog crested the slope, finding a small 'pit' bordering the sea. In it were two buildings, about 100 meters apart, and both were crawling with Covenant. "Let's hope that comms array has a working generator" Kat said.

The Warthog zipped down between the buildings, and the trio caught sight of a Revenant. The Revenant spotted them as well, and lobbed a plasma shell at them. The vehicle quickly and easily dodged the red sphere, and began a wide clockwise circle around the Covenant assault craft. Kat and Teana poured fire into it, and eventually the driver's shields failed and a bullet from Kat's assault rifle tore through his neck, bringing the vehicle to a halt. The passenger roared, and a .50-caliber bullet entered through its open mouth, right between the spread mandibles, and blew out the back of the alien's skull.

"Let's search the area for a generator switch" Kat ordered, and Jess drove up to the upper side of the near building. He splattered a red-armored Elite against a boulder, and Teana quickly wiped out the blue-armored Elite and its Grunt entourage with the .50-cal. Kat used her pistol to take down the two shieldless Jackal Marksmen, and then hopped out of the vehicle and went inside the building. She found a big lever on the side of the generator, and yanked it down. The generator hummed with power.

"Okay," she said, walking back over to the Warthog, "generator is up and running. Let's find that comms array; should be up high."

As she said this, a Spirit flew overhead. Jess quickly drove the Warthog 20 feet forward, avoiding the fired plasma bolt that hit where the Hog had just been, kicking up bits of molten soil. The Spirit stopped next to the far building, dropping off half a dozen green-armored Grunts and four Skirmishers.

He floored it, aiming for the avian aliens. One Skirmisher almost managed to dodge, but its legs were crushed underneath the tires, leaving it screaming. Its comrade, seeing the damage, used a plasma pistol to end its pack-mate's suffering. The third Skirmisher ran inside the building, while the fourth strafed the Warthog, firing needler rounds that bounced harmlessly off the vehicle's armor. Kat used her pistol to snipe the moving Kig-Yar's head, and the body's momentum carried it about seven feet further as it fell to the ground.

Jess got out of the Warthog and used his DMR to take down the second Skirmisher, and then walked into the building, almost-casually catching the punch from the fourth and twisting its arm in a way the arm wasn't meant to be twisted. A loud crack was heard, followed by another as the Spartan grabbed the bird's neck and twisted. He fought his way past the Grunts, killing two and causing three more to try to leap off the roof to safety, only to land in the Warthog gun's crosshairs. The last Grunt dropped its gun, raised its arms, and got down on the ground, trying to look as dead as it could. "What me leaders and you leaders not know not hurt me, eh?" it said nervously. Jess shook his head, walked past the demoralized target (taking the alien's weapon), and hit the switch. A high _whirr _could be heard as the comms array turned on. Jess leapt down to the ground next to the Warthog, hearing a sigh of relief behind him on the roof as he jumped. Yayap would live to see another day.

"_Noble Strike, this is Noble Leader_" Carter radioed as Jess got back to the Hog. "_Get back to Sword Base ASAP._"

"On our way, Commander" Kat replied.

A Pelican came over the nearby hill, carrying another Warthog. Looking at the not-optimal state of their current ride, the trio disembarked and walked over to wait for the drop.

"_Good work, Spartans_" came Sword Control's voice. "_Return to Sword Base; the rest of your team is inbound_."

"_Noble, be advised_" Carter cut in, "_Covenant corvette moving into position. Get here quick; we need you inside._"

The Pelican dropped its cargo, which turned out to be a Warthog mounted with an M68 Gauss Cannon. Teana 'ooh'ed appreciatively and hopped behind the cannon, while Jess took the wheel and Kat again grabbed shotgun. The Warthog took off down the hill, riding a narrow road between an icy cliff and the sea. Ahead, a Phantom prepared to drop a Revenant. Teana fired a shot, the 25x130mm shell impacting the dropship's starboard engine at 13.5 kilometers per second. The Phantom spun and drifted wildly, soon splashing into the cold water 50 feet out, the attached Revenant coming loose and quickly sinking.

The Warthog approached another small slope and climbed it. On the far side of the area was the gate they needed to reach; guarding it, trading fire with troopers, were two Revenants and a Ghost. The small purple attack sled spotted the new arrivals first, charging ahead while firing a few plasma shots. A single gauss shot cored the craft, burning bits of violet metal crashing to a halt.

The nearest Revenant took notice of the commotion and turned to face them, firing a shot. Jess accelerated, allowing the plasma shell to pass right over them as Teana opened up with the M68. One shot blew a significant chunk off the Revenant's right frontal armor. A second shot hit the plasma cell, and the resulting explosion consumed the driver.

The other Revenant hadn't noticed them. It fired a shell, and a marine PFC vanished from the knees up. A shot to the vehicle's aft end from the gauss cannon saved the rest of the soldiers, who concentrated AR rife on a charging blue Elite, taking him down before he could dive for cover.

Jess drove the Warthog up to the gate and hopped out, walking over and hitting a switch. Gears could be heard turning.

"_We're stalled at the tower atrium, Kat_" Jun reported. "_Where are you?_"

"Opening the gate now" Kat replied. "Hang tight; we're on the way!"

The gate opened, and Kat, having shifted to the driver's seat, eased the Warthog through, stopping it just behind a concrete barricade. An Elite, two Jackals, and three Grunts ran down from the top of the ramp ahead, and were quickly obliterated by gauss cannon fire. The two female Spartans hopped out of the vehicle, joining Jess in jogging up the hill.

They approached a set of double doors, open to reveal the sight of bullets zipping through the air from a fireteam of troopers off to the right. The response was a large glowing green blob of death from the left. Two Hunters lumbered into view from the left, their shields raised, shuffling towards the trapped troopers. Teana fired a sniper rifle shot at the exposed back of the farthest Hunter. The supersonic round tore through the little orange creatures that made up a Hunter, scattering orange blood on the ground. Another shot flew, this one ricocheting back and forth inside the Hunter's armor, shredding Lekgolo and bringing the titan down with a crash.

The other Hunter, noticing the interlopers and thoroughly enraged by its bond-brother's death, turned to face its new foes. It roared, crouched behind its shield, and fired. The trio of Spartans dove to the side, Jess' shields draining by 15% as the bolt whizzed by him, and then ran in. Kat and Teana fired pistol shots into the creature's back as the beast turned to face Jess, splattering orange blood and pitting 'flesh'. The gestalt beast roared and charged at Jess, moving much faster than something that size had any right to.

But Jess was quicker. He side-stepped, saying 'Olé!' in his head, and stuck a plasma grenade to the Hunter's back. The explosive went off in a bright flash. The Hunter moaned in pain, now barely holding itself together. A single pistol-mode shot from Teana was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the beast collapsed in a heap.

A trio of Grunts hiding in the next room saw this and panicked, promptly running straight into the gun-sights of the fireteam, who gladly took the opportunity. Teana switched Mirage to Mode PR and poured full-auto plasma fire into the blue-armored Elite guarding the elevator. The ionized bolts quickly brought down the alien's shields, and continued fire burned through the creature's torso. The Elite collapsed, and the vents on the sides of Cross Mirage partially opened, quickly venting heat and then snapping shut. Teana switched her right-hand gun to pistol mode, keeping the left one in plasma-shot mode.

The trio of Spartans stepped inside the elevator, Noble-6 hitting the 'Up' button. The lights flickered as the base shuddered.

"_Corvette's hittin' this base hard_" Emile remarked over the comm.

"Where's our orbital support?" Kat wondered aloud. "There's got to be four platforms that could take it out with a single MAC round."

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened to a white hallway. "Welcome to the Office of Naval Intelligence" said a recording over the speakers. "An ONI representative will be with you shortly."

"Somehow, I doubt that" Kat replied dryly.

Jess tossed a frag grenade, killing two Grunts taking shelter behind a far wall. Teana switched Cross Mirage to Rifle Mode full-auto, and then charged in and opened fire on a red-armored Elite. After about three seconds of sustained fire, the alien's shields failed, and several shots tore through its chest. Kat finished off a third Grunt with her own assault rifle.

The trio approached a door, which opened upon detecting their approach to reveal Carter, Jorge, and Jun engaging an Elite and six Jackals. Jess tossed a frag grenade amongst the near trio of Jackals, shredding them; Jorge managed to clip a far Jackal's hand, causing it to rear back in pain. He continued firing, the Jackal's body being perforated and pushed back into the other two Jackals, which in turn knocked them off-balance and opened them up to Jorge's machinegun. Carter managed to bring down the Elite's shields, finishing it with a shot through the eye.

"Six," he turned to Kat's team, "head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure he gets there."

"Depend on it" the Spartan-2 replied. Jess and Teana charged up a nearby ramp, running into a trio of Special Ops Grunts wielding plasma rifles. A few quick bursts of fire took them down, and Teana went over to help a trooper who'd taken a glancing shot to the leg, draping his arm over her shoulder and leading him behind a desk for cover. She pried the burnt armor off his leg, and then began assisting Kat in treating the wound. As Jess passed, Teana tossed him the sniper rifle and two extra clips for it.

Jess moved on, meeting Jorge in the next room, and the two Spartans, accompanied by four army troopers, made their way up to the next area. A trio of Grunts rounded a corner to the right, and was cut down by a trooper with a quick burst of AR fire. The group entered the next area, and a female trooper had the tip of an unruly lock of hair singed off by a near-miss plasma bolt. She growled and took the top of the head off the offending Grunt with a well-placed DMR shot.

Jess took down the other three Grunts with DMR shots, and then jammed the barrel of the sniper rifle in the shoulder of an Elite Ultra. He fired, and the extreme-close range meant the bullet punched through shielding and blew out the alien's shoulder. The Elite roared in pain, and another shot – this time with the barrel touching its helmet – cut the alien's cry short.

The base shuddered again. "_Corvette's gonna rip this place apart!_" Sword Control called. "_What's the situation, Noble?_"

"_Can't do this on my own!_" Emile radioed. "_Need another Spartan up here!_"

"_Six, get upstairs and assist Emile_" Carter ordered.

As Jess approached the entrance to the next walkway, he spotted an Elite and two Jackal Marksmen on the other end. He quickly killed the Elite with a sniper shot before it could react, and used the fourth bullet to kill one of the Jackals. A DMR shot took out the other one, and he reloaded the sniper rifle as he advanced.

Inside this next area, a ramp led up beneath a transparent floor above. At the top of the ramp were a black-armored Elite and a pair of red-shielded Jackals. Jess tossed a frag grenade, stunning the three. He tossed another, and this one drained the Elite's shield and killed the Jackals. He killed the Elite with two shots from his DMR.

As he reached the top, the base shuddered again. "_Commander,_" Sword Control radioed, "_this base won't survive another salvo from that corvette. Kill those Banshees!_"

"_Upstairs, Lieutenant!_" Carter called to Jess, "_We need those Longswords in the air!_" Jess ran past the doors and over the last walkway, firing at the two Grunts across from him and taking them down. Four Grunts came out of the left doorway behind him, but by now the troopers and Jorge had caught up, and gunned them down before they could shoot at Noble-6.

Jess stopped to grab three more DMR clips and two frag grenades from a wall mount, and made his way through the damaged area. At the end, on the left, an Elite Field Commander wielding a concussion rifle traded fire with a trooper fireteam a level below. Jess snuck up on him, and then leapt atop him, drawing his knife and burying it in the back of the Elite's neck. The Elite exhaled and died. Jess got back to his feet, turned around, and headed through a door that had been blown open. Two Jackals were dealt with by a frag grenade.

"About damn time!" Emile shouted.

This room had been devastated by an explosion. The walls and ceiling were gone, exposing it to open sky. A half-dozen Banshees flitted about in the nearby air, a Phantom was fast approaching, and the corvette, closer than ever, hung in the sky. Jess walked into a nearby hallway, finding an M41 rocket launcher and three boxes of ammo. The Phantom was now so close, he didn't need to lock on. He fired two shots, reloaded, and fired again. The fourth shot did the trick, the dropship trailing smoke and falling for a few seconds before it exploded, leaving burning wreckage to plummet to the ground below.

A plasma bolt, seemingly from nowhere, hit Jess in the head, his shields flaring to protect him. He ducked, drawing his DMR, and sighted the shimmering figure of a cloaked Elite. He opened fire, and six shots brought the alien's shields down. A seventh killed it. By now, Jorge had caught up, and he opened fire on another cloaked Elite. The barrage of machinegun fire quickly whittled down its shields, and the mortally wounded Elite toppled backward over the edge. If it screamed on the way down, no-one heard it. A third cloaked Elite roared, and was promptly blown to bits by a rocket fired by Emile on the level above. Over the next 40 seconds, Jess and Emile used rockets to sent the six Banshees falling to the ground far below in flaming pieces.

"That's the way we get it done, Spartan!" Emile called out happily.

"_Noble Team,_" Sword Control radioed, "_Longswords are inbound and ready to push; Orbital defenses standing by to take the shot._"

There was a roar as a pair of Longswords flew overhead, pursuing the corvette, which was now fleeing. For reasons yet unknown, Covenant Corvettes did not have energy shields, and the (by Covenant standards) small vessel knew this, recognizing that it wouldn't fare so well against a swarm of human heavy fighters. It accelerated away from the base, slowly gaining altitude.

Then the Longswords pulled away. A few seconds later, a white streak shot down from the sky.

Even though it was only fired at 8% power, the Super-MAC shot was still enough to punch clean through the unshielded enemy ship. Secondary explosions ripped through the corvette, and its engines flickered and died.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" Jorge said as he walked up beside Jess. "Someone should take a picture." The Corvette hit the water with a mighty splash. "Nice work, by the way."

"I aim to please" Jess replied.

"_Five, Six…_" Carter radioed, "_Get down to the science wing. Doctor Halsey wants a debrief, and Command's saying we're all hers._"

"Repeat?" Jorge replied. "Sounded like you said 'Halsey'."

"_I did._"

"Copy that; we're on our way." He turned to Jess. "Don't need Command to tell me. Been all hers half me life." The two walked away, leaving the sinking corvette to its watery grave.

Five minutes later, Jorge and Jess entered the science wing, and stumbled into a rather coldly professional discussion between Noble-1 and Dr. Halsey.

"I requested your assistance, Commander," the older woman said, "and do not need a report on events that occur on my doorstep. What I _do _require is a detailed account of your previous engagement-" she stopped as she spotted the tall, green-armored figure entering the room.

"Jorge… it's been too long."

"Ma'am" he nodded respectfully as he took his helmet off.

"What have you done with my armor?" she said with a hint of mirth.

"Just some… additions I've made" Jorge replied.

"Indeed" Halsey replied, before turning back to Carter. "Visegrád Relay. Its data center was home to one of my xenoarchaeologists: Professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death."

"If he was a civilian male in his mid-60s," Carter replied, "he died from a Covenant plasma sword through his torso."

"Elites, then?"

"They engaged us as well" Jorge said. "It was just, uh… just after we found your scientist's daughter Sára, ma'am. She was hiding in the-"

"Irrelevant at the moment. The Elites… tell me more about them."

"Three" he responded, "Zealot class. One got by us; the leader, from the looks of him."

"Zealots…" Halsey replied, sounding a little interested. "You're certain?"

"Armor configuration matched."

"Shield strength, too" Jess replied. "Took an entire MA37 clip to bring down one's shields."

"I gave the order not to pursue" Carter elaborated. "Our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online."

"Your 'primary objective'?" Halsey replied with a hint of scorn. "Commander, are you a puppet, or a Spartan?"

"Ma'am?" Carter was a little shocked at the rude question. The doctor continued.

"There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And _you_ let them get away."

"Data retrieval was not a command directive" Carter countered, "and even had we known, we had other, more important matters to attend to."

"Like warning the planet" Kat cut in.

Halsey paused, and then seemed to accept this. "Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to a 'latchkey discovery'. Latchkey... Not a word he would use lightly. So let's hope that the data module your Lieutenant Commander _stole_ contains it."

Carter turned to his second-in-command in surprise. "Kat?"

"Before you ask," Halsey continued, "I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents, as I am with any unauthorized tap."

Kat walked over and placed the data module in a container, which Halsey pulled over to herself on the other side of the shield door. "That data is classified Tier One. I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work."

Teana was shocked. She'd never seen the doctor be this harsh towards anyone. What the hell was wrong with her all the sudden?

"Ma'am, pardon my asking," she said, "but what's this hostility all of a sudden?"

Halsey turned to face Teana. "I get word that a Spartan team is on its way to assist me" she said. "This strikes me as odd, considering that I am unaware of any Spartan-2s in the area. And then Noble Team walks in here, and it is immediately obvious to me that they are _not_ Spartan-2s at all. This means that somebody initiated a Spartan-3 program, an entire new class of Spartans, without my knowledge. And the oldest appear to be in their late 20s. It means that my colleagues lied to me, and have been lying to me for at least two decades. So yes, I _am_ rather ticked off about being kept in the dark about such a monumental development for over 20 years."

"I'll give you three guesses as to whose pet project the S3 program is" Kat said. "First two don't count."

"Ackerson?" Halsey asked in a deadpan tone.

"And Parangosky, yep" Jorge replied.

"They set up Spartan-2 Kurt-051" Carter explained. "Gave him a faulty jetpack, made sure it would malfunction in just such a way at a very precise position and time, so they were able to swoop in, pluck him out of space, and start using him to train the S-3s. As far as I know, ma'am, he's still on Onyx, helping train the third wave of Spartan-3s."

Halsey was flummoxed, especially at Kurt's survival, but she hid her emotions. "And where is Onyx?" she asked.

"We don't know" Emile replied. "Kurt, Mendez, Ackerson, and Parangosky are the only ones who actually know Onyx's astral coordinates; everyone else is shipped out without bein' allowed to know what star system it's in. We grew up on that planet, but if you gave us a map none of us would even know where to begin findin' it."

"From what I understand, ma'am," Jorge said, "most of the Spartan-3s are... not quite up to snuff compared to my generation. But Kurt hand-picks the few who are, the ones who would pass your original mental and genetic parameters in the S-2 program, and gives 'em specialized training, Mjolnir armor, and puts 'em in teams. He calls these top-tier Spartan-3s 'Spartan 2.5s'. Noble Team's the best of 'em."

"...I see." Halsey replied. "This has been most enlightening. And now I have something else to dig around for..." she muttered. "Thank you for delivering Dr. Sorvad's datafile to me, and for helping in the defense of Sword Base. Now if you'd excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I've got some... research... to do."

Carter nodded his head, then turned and walked out, the rest of Noble following. Jorge and Teana left last, the former giving a respectful nod to his mother-figure. As Halsey sat at her desk, she called up her two 'children'.

"Kalmiya? Cortana? We've got work to do, girls."

_**-CHAPTER END-**_

Don't have any ideas, so the next chapter skips straight to Nightfall.


	5. Nightfall

Here's Chapter 5. And yes, there's no Teana in this chapter; she's with Jorge as a different two-man recon team elsewhere. This chapter's basically a novelization of the canon 3rd mission of _Reach_.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Reach**

**August 11****th****, 2552 – 26:30 hours**

As the spotlight-carrying Phantom moved on, Jess emerged from the shadow he'd been hiding in, moving up to catch up with Jun, who had started moving from his own hiding spot nine yards ahead. The two Spartans stepped gingerly along the narrow edge of the cliff, mindful of the hundreds-of-meters drop directly to their left.

"Recon Bravo Team reporting" Jun radioed back to base, "Three and Six in position. It's starting to get crowded up here, Kat."

"Then we're closing in" Kat replied over the comm., as Jun & Jess rounded a corner and found surer footing, overlooking solid ground. "Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary."

"Cope that" Jun said as the comm. channel closed, and then chuckled as he turned to Jess. "When Kat runs an op, direct action is _always _necessary".

He grabbed one of the two satchels hanging from his back and handed it to Jess. "Here; you may need these". Jess looked inside; it was a bag of sniper rifle clips. Jess inserted one into his rifle.

"High-velocity armor piercing" Jun explained, "They'll take the head off an Elite at 2,000 yards. And they ain't cheap."

The two headed further along the ledge, Jun then scaling a boulder. "I'll be in touch" he said. Jess skidded down the nearby rock slope, jumping the last six feet to the ground.

…**Too Quiet**

"Recon Bravo," Kat radioed, as Jess began cautiously moving forward, "the sector ahead is dark to electronic surveillance."

"The Covenant can block our instruments?" Jun asked with muted surprise.

"So it would seem," Noble-2 replied, "and Command wants to know what they're hiding."

Jess creeped around another ledge, spotting a red-armored Elite facing away from him, staring into the night. Jess snuck up on him, and then pounced, grabbing the alien's neck and twisting. Other than the semi-muffled _crack_, it was a silent takedown, as Jess quietly lowered the body to the ground. "Not bad" remarked Jun, watching from higher up. Jess used his knife to quietly kill a pair of sleeping Grunts, and moved on. Below, three more Grunts slept; he let them be.

Soon, Jess reached a rock platform overlooking a complex hosting a number of Covenant. He took cover behind a large boulder, minding the dead body of the UNSC army trooper leaning against it, assault rifle still in its lap. Jun walked up behind him, peering around the other side of the boulder.

"Recon Bravo to Noble-2" Jun radioed, "stand by for contact report."

"Standing by for copy, over" came the reply.

"We have eyes on multiple hostiles patrolling a settlement. This what we're looking for, Kat?"

"Negative; too small, and you're not in the dark zone yet. Engage at your own discretion, but keep moving."

Jess nodded and sighted a red-armored Elite on the roof of the garage at the far end, and fired. The round tore the alien's head off. He quickly shifted and took out the startled blue-armored Elite that was slightly closer, as Jun killed an Elite Ranger who was standing on the right-most building's roof.

Jess than drew his M6 pistol and started capping Grunts down below, as Jun fired a sniper shot to kill their blue-armored Elite overseer. After several Grunts fell, a Phantom flew in. The dropship fired its chin-gun, and Jess & Jun ducked behind the boulder. After several seconds, the Phantom flew off, having dropped off seven Jackals, six Grunts, and two Elites. The blue-armored Elite and four of the Jackals took up position in the center of the courtyard.

Jess fired at the fuel tank in the courtyard center, and after a few seconds it went off with a bang, killing the Elite and three of the Jackals. A pistol shot took out the surviving Jackal. Meanwhile, Jun sighted and killed the red-armored Elite, and then drew his own pistol and opened fire on the Grunts. Together they killed three before the rest took cover.

After about a minute, both leapt down to deal with the survivors up close. Jess killed two more Grunts and then used his hand-then-head method on two of the Jackals, and Jun threw a frag grenade to take out the other two avian aliens. The sniper then picked up a plasma pistol and used it to kill the remaining Grunts, tossing the gun aside when he was done with it.

The area clear, the two Spartans moved on through a garage, splitting up; Jess went up some stairs to the right, while Jun went left and climbed a ladder up to a catwalk connected to the large tower in the middle of the next area.

When Jess reached the top of the stairs, he immediately pulled up his sniper rifle and looked through the scope. The red-armored Elite standing on the circular catwalk around the tower only had time to briefly register seeing the Spartan before a sniper round blew its brains out. Jun reached the platform circling the tower at this point, taking position and opening fire, killing the Grunt manning a plasma turret on the nearby building's second-floor patio.

Jess followed the curve behind the wall, finding the side entrance to the building, from which three Grunts ran out. He used his pistol to bring them down, attracting the attention of an Elite Major. He shouldered the sniper rifle and clipped the alien's shoulder, then snapped up his pistol and fired three shots. The first two finished taking down the Elite's shields; the third pierced its neck, and it fell to the ground. Nearby, another Elite roared and fell as one of Jun's shots punched through its chest.

Over the next 20 seconds, the two Spartans quickly dealt with the remaining Grunts, and Jess entered the building, taking the stairs up and reaching the mounted plasma turret just as a Grunt and a Jackal came from the path to the right. He opened fire and gunned them down, and then ripped the plasma turret from its mount, jumping down with it and carrying it down the path, Jun close behind him.

**Let Sleeping Dogs Lie**

The two Spartans rounded a corner, and were surprised by the sounds of roars and growls, accompanied by screaming Grunts. Jess hopped onto a nearby boulder, and then clambered up onto a bigger one to get a vantage point. Jun followed him up. "Holy crap" the sniper breathed. "Look at that."

Two huge creatures were attacking the Covenant forces. They were both easily 20 feet tall, probably more, and their claws looked almost as big as a Spartan-III. They carved through the terrified Grunts, their thick hides shrugging off plasma bolts and bouncing away needler rounds as they used their tusks and claws to gore and slice their way through the diminutive aliens, who looked even smaller than usual next to these titans.

And then, its alien targets dead, the closest one sniffed the air and turned to face the Spartans. It roared, and charged. Jess opened fire with the plasma turret, aiming for the head, as Jun fired his sniper rifle at the creature's chest. Finally, just as it reached the base of the boulder, Jess' plasma fire did its job, and the beast collapsed dead.

Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of the other one. The two Spartans leapt down to the ground, opening fire on the second beast. A sniper round from Jun tore through its head, and as it fell its claw speared the turret Jess was carrying, rendering it useless. The two Spartans breathed a sigh of relief, examining the two fallen beasts.

"Kat," Jun said into the radio, "you pick any of that up?"

"Affirmative, Recon Bravo" came the reply. "It's an indigenous apex predator, called a _güta_."

"Damn things tore through a Covenant patrol like nothing. I think I see a dead Elite against one of the rocks; looks like he was pretty much torn in half."

"Reports say most of the _gütas _have fled the area already. Those were probably the last ones."

Gathering themselves, the two Spartans moved on. Passing through a small canyon, they hopped down a pile of rubble that made a convenient staircase, reaching a small grassy area with an eight-strong flock of moas. The docile ostrich-like birds moved to the side as the two augmented humans passed.

As they approached a bend, repeated popping crackscould be heard up ahead.

"Gunfire" Jun identified. "Magnums. Security sidearms. Standard issue."

The two reached an opening, which overlooked a pumping station. In it, five men were exchanging fire with Covenant forces.

"Noble-2," Jun radioed, "we're at some sort of pump station. Got eyes on civilians; I'm thinking local militia. They've engaged hostiles."

"Move to assist" Kat ordered. "They may have intel we need."

"You heard her, Six" Jun said to his comrade. "Keep those civilians alive."

Jess nodded and pulled out his sniper rifle. He sighted a red-armored Elite and fired, taking the top half of its skull off. He fired again, downing another Elite Major, as Jun ran forward, firing his pistol at the Grunts.

"Give us a hand!" the militia leader said. "Bastards just keep comin'!"

A Spirit dropped off another clutch of Covenant, including a pair of Skirmishers that leapt onto the roof, and an Elite that quickly lost its life at Jess' marksmanship. Jess than stowed his sniper rifle and drew his pistol, charging in and tossing a frag grenade. The device went off, shredding a pair of Jackals and a Grunt. A Skirmisher up on the roof was caught by a militiaman's assault rifle, falling to the ground in a bloody heap. The militia leader, wielding a sniper rifle, took down the other Skirmisher, as the others and the two Spartans mopped up the Grunts.

Afterwards, the group gathered near a pair of long briefcases.

"Little more action than we're used to" remarked the militia leader. "You Spartans are good in a fight."

"What are you doing here?" Jun responded. "This whole area's supposed to be evacuated."

"We didn't like leaving it to someone else to protect out homes. So we came back… for _this_." He gestured to the briefcases, which opened to reveal two DMRs and clips in one, and a sniper rifle and rocket launcher in the other. "We have them hidden all over the territory."

"You know," Jun said, "this stuff is stolen…"

"What?" the leader replied, "you gonna arrest me?"

"No… I'm gonna steal it back."

Jess dropped his pistol and grabbed a DMR and five clips of ammo for it. A tall and muscular militiaman grabbed the launcher and two extra rockets, while the sniper militiaman grabbed two more clips of ammo for his rifle.

A Phantom flew overhead, stopping over the far edge of the little island the pump station was built on. Jess ran onto the top of the nearby building, the rocket man following him. The dropship dropped off two Elites and four Jackals. The militiaman fired a rocket at the tightly clustered Jackals, killing all four of them. Jun and the sniper man took down the two Elites.

Another Phantom flew over, heading to the road across the bridge. It dropped off several Grunts and an Elite Ultra. Jess ran onto the bridge and tossed a frag grenade, killing four Grunts, and then turned to meet the Elite. The alien roared and fired its concussion rifle, and Jess ducked behind a crate to dodge. He poked out, rifle shouldered, and fired. The first shot smacked the Elite in the chest, draining the shields and denting the armor, causing the alien to stumble backward. The second shot entered the bottom of the helmet, where a human's lower jaw would be, and exited the top rear of the Elite's head. The lifeless body toppled backward.

The militiamen had finished off the Grunts with help from Jun, and a third Phantom soared overhead, taking position above the artificial stream to the left of the bridge. Five Grunts, three Jackals, and a blue-armored Elite jumped down, and the craft took off and flew away into the night. A grenade flew through the air, landing amongst them and killing a Jackal and two Grunts. Sniper fire from Jess, Jun, and the sniper militiaman took down the Elite, the other two Jackals, and two more Grunts. A pistol shot from the militia leader killed the last Grunt. The area clear, the group moved on to the bridge, the militia leader picking up the fallen Elite's concussion rifle and two cartridges of ammo for it.

"Nothing here but that lake" Jun said, looking to the leader.

"The road leads to a hydroelectric plant, but the gate doesn't work."

"Alternate route?"

"We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons…"

"Basically, anything the UNSC considers contraband."

"…Basically."

"Show us."

The seven soldiers walked down a nearby trail, entering a dried-up riverbed and following it, passing rocks, trees, and a sleeping moa.

"Where does this riverbed lead?" Jun asked their guide.

"Straight to the hydro plant" the man replied. "We dammed this river up 45 years ago. The plant powers every settlement in the territory. Shame if it all gets wasted…"

"We're doing what we can" Jess replied.

A throbbing whirr could be heard, and everyone took cover in shadows as a Phantom passed overhead. Several seconds later, they continued moving.

**I'll Just Leave This Here…**

The group reached the end of the riverbed, finding a large power plant covered in Covenant troopers. A large pylon, clearly of Covenant build, stood a bit to the left.

"Kat," Jun reported, "are you seeing this? Covenant structure; kind of a big pylon. Heavily guarded."

"That's the source of our dark zone" Kat stated.

"Okay," the sniper Spartan replied, "consider it gone."

"Negative" she ordered. "Stick a remote det-charge on it. Command's planning something big; they say that pylon dies at dawn."

"We gonna blow it?" a militiaman asked.

"We're gonna clear the area", Jun explained, "and I'm gonna plant a remote det-charge. If you want to provide some cover, go right ahead.

The man nodded and turned to his fellows, who also nodded. Jess quickly sniped the two Elites standing on a walkway up high, and then killed a Jackal to the far right, as the other six ran to the left heading for the bridge. Jess followed after a few seconds.

By the time he caught up, the others had already cleared the bridge, and the seven then crossed, engaging a few Grunts. A militiaman armed with an assault rifle hurried up the stairs, and then collapsed to the ground as a thin green bolt went through his skull. Jess hopped over him and sighted the Elite Major holding a Covenant carbine, shrugged off a shot that bounced off his shields, and shot the alien through the neck. Jun stepped up behind Jess and took out the Skirmisher standing next to the dead Elite, as the militia leader fired two concussion rifle shots at the Grunts below, the resulting methane tank cook-off killing three and wounding two more.

With the area clear, the six men gathered at the base of the pylon. "This is gonna take a minute, Six" Jun said, ripping free a metal plate and getting to work. Just then, a Phantom flew in, dropping a pair of Hunters and bugging out. The launcher-wielding militiaman fired a rocket, and it hit the old forklift that was directly behind the Hunters. The explosions of the warhead and of the vehicle's fuel tank badly wounded the Hunters, who both roared and returned fire. The soldiers ducked behind the pylon's legs, and twin bolts of green death impacting the structure and leaving it glowing hot.

Jess tossed a plasma grenade, and it stuck to the left Hunter's head. It went off, and the now-headless beast toppled. The other Hunter roared and charged, but by this time the burly militiaman had reloaded the launcher. He peeked out from cover and fired a rocket. The Hunter raised its shield, but even though the metal plate absorbed most of the damage, the rocket still did harm to the already-wounded beast. The Hunter reared back, dazed, and a sniper shot from Jess tore through its 'neck' and ended its life.

"Recon Bravo to Noble-2" Jun radioed as he jammed the purple metal plate back into place. "Charge placed"

"Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope?" Kat asked.

"Stuck it inside the pylon's power supply."

"Alright. Keep pushing into the dark zone. Command wants to know what the Covenant are hiding."

"There's a gate to the southeast. It's locked."

"Copy. Uploading security codes to you now".

The group got to the gate, and Jun began punching in a number code that scrolled across his HUD. The gate's innards groaned, and it slid open to reveal a Phantom dropping four Grunts and a Jackal. A militiaman tossed a grenade, and it killed two of the Grunts and wounded the Jackal. Three concussion rifle shots from the militia leader finished them off, and he reloaded the weapon as the group moved forward.

A Shade turret up ahead spotted them and opened fire. The rocket-wielding man fired his last warhead, falling to the ground a half-second later as a pair of heavy plasma bolts burned through his chest. The rocket did its job, scrapping the turret and fragmenting its Grunt operator. The assault rifle-wielding militiaman killed a trio of surprised Grunts to the right, as Jun & Jess went around the left of the massive boulder that the Shade had been sitting on.

They ran into a pair of Elites. Near-point-blank sniper fire quickly dispatched the aliens, and a frag grenade killed a pair of red-shielded Jackals nearby. Jess used his DMR and the hand-then-head method to kill a farther Jackal, and then used it to head-shot the Grunt manning a second Shade.

"Lotta air traffic around here, Six" Jun pointed to the quintet of Banshees up high, "I think we're getting warm."

The five soldiers clambered up the second boulder, taking position next to the empty Shade. Jess peeked his head around the corner, and then rolled out and took aim, sniping the Elite manning a third Shade 60 meters away. The Grunts near the turret panicked, and Jess picked them off with his DMR.

"Noble-2, we have eyes on at least one Covenant ship" Jun radioed, noticing the nose of a Covenant corvette.

"Solid copy" came Kat's slightly staticy voice. "Don't stop now."

Another Elite fell to Jun's marksmanship, and the five men moved down and in, killing a trio of Grunts and two Jackals. Eventually, the two Spartans came across an overlook. They went prone and combat-crawled up to the edge, spotting a massive Covenant landing zone. A corvette hovered overhead, and another one was in the distance. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Covenant mulled about below, and an AA gun was under construction.

"Jackpot" Jun said.

"Transmitting visual" Jess said, "You seeing this, Two?"

"Confirmed" came Kat's voice. "Receiving Noble-3 and Noble-6's live visual of a Covenant strike force."

"That's no strike force" Jun replied. "It's an invading army."

"Noble-7 to Command" Teana's voice came over the radio. "Recon Charlie has located another Covenant landing zone 215 kilometers southeast of Team Bravo's."

"Recon-111" to Command" came the voice of an ONI Recon squad. "Recon Alpha has found another one, 430 kilometers northwest of Team Bravo's."

"If we're gonna smother this thing," Jun said, "we need to go in hard and fast."

"Agreed" replied Kat. "All recon teams, disengage and fall back. The Sun will be up in a few hours… and it's going to be a very busy day."

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Things really start happenin' next chapter.


	6. Tip Of The Spear

Here's Chapter 6. Tia's back.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Reach**

**Szurdok Ridge, Ütközet**

**August 12****th****, 2552**

A massive dust cloud, visible from low orbit, slowly crept across the plains, kicked up by a huge convoy of UNSC vehicles. Warthogs and Mongooses raced across the dusty rock, Scorpion tanks bringing up the rear. Overhead, an aerial escort of Pelicans, Falcons, and Hornets filled the sky.

"It appears that Noble Team's discovery last night was not an anomaly" Dot reported. "Large Covenant deployments have occurred undetected, and we are now under attack across the Viery territory, including orbital defenses. As per the Winter Contingency, we are countering on every front. Noble's reconnaissance has also identified sophisticated Covenant army-hiding canopies, and has pinpointed what's believed to be a landing zone for additional Covenant forces, the origin of which is yet to be determined."

The pack of military hardware rolled on, a chorus of revving engines heralding their coming. In one Warthog, near the front of the group, Kat sat at the driver's seat. Jess rode shotgun, while Teana manned the M41 chaingun. Over them, Carter and Jorge rode in the lead Falcon, overlooking the rolling spectacle beneath them.

"That landing zone has been tagged by UNSC Command as a priority one target" Noble-1 said over the TEAMCOM.

"Time to bake that cake we made last night!" came the voice of Jun, who was currently riding shotgun on a Mongoose.

"Copy that" Kat replied. "Acquiring signal lock on the pylon" She pulled up a detonator, looking to her right. In the distance, the Covenant pylon could be seen on a cliff-edge, panels on its side strobing a dull blue light. "Detonating in three, two, one!"

She pressed the button, and a half-second later an explosion tore through one of the pylon's legs. The device toppled to the ground. Suddenly, chaos broke out, as a flight of Banshees came in from up ahead, firing plasma bolts at the approaching human forces. One hit the driver of a Mongoose, which then tumbled out of control. Plasma mortars could be seen falling in, launched by distant Wraiths. One hit a Warthog dead-on, sending the flaming wreckage flying as momentum carried it forward.

All the other vehicles took immediate evasive action, dodging the remaining plasma mortars. Warthog turrets turned to track and fire at the passing enemy fliers. Teana tracked a straggler Banshee, hitting its rear engine as it passed and sending it gliding powerless into the ground. Upon its landing, a Scorpion tank blew it to bits.

The Hog moved on, followed two others to a bridge. "Incoming!" Jess pointed to a plasma mortar shell, which hit the bridge, blowing it apart and destroying the Warthog that had been crossing it.

"Might want to hang on to something!" Kat shouted as their vehicle hit the 'ramp' of a broken bridge part and sailed over the gap. Teana let go of the gun and dropped to hug the floor of the Warthog, using Spartan strength to dig her own handholds into the metal. Jess grabbed onto the roll-bar, and Kat braced herself on the steering wheel. The vehicle tumbled and hit nose-first into the ground. It bounced, did a forward flip, and came back down.

After several seconds of soundless white, the world faded back into view for Jess. He picked his head up and looked behind him just in time to see another Warthog, carrying three marines, fail to make the jump. They screamed as the vehicle plummeted.

"Six!" Kat shouted to him as she helped a dazed but otherwise unharmed Teana out of the wrecked Warthog. "Six, can you hear me? Six, you alright? We could use some help!"

Jess stumbled to his feet, grabbing the M318 grenade launcher that had been flung clear of the crash, and replied "I'm on my way!" He ran up to the other two. Teana switched Mirage to rifle form 3-round burst mode, and a barrage of plasma bolts from a pair of passing Banshees set the damaged Warthog alight. Jess fired a grenade in EMP mode, and the burst fried the systems of one of the Banshees. It went sailing over his head and dropped over the cliff behind him.

**Tempest Perimeter**

"Kat, Tia, Jess," Carter radioed, "what's your status?"

"Pylons are down" Kat replied. "We're pushing up the hill."

Jess fired another grenade, this one in standard mode, and the explosion killed two Jackals. Teana fired one from Mirage's under-slung 40mm launcher, and three Grunts went down. Kat opened fire on more Grunts, killing two, and then ducked behind a boulder as fire from a Fuel Rod Gun Shade tore up the ground around her. Jess fired an EMP burst, and an Elite Major's shields failed; a three-shot burst from Teana tore through its neck.

Jess and Teana picked off the rest of the Grunts and Jackals, and then split. Jess went around a boulder to the right, and quickly dashed out and fired a grenade at the nearest FRG Shade. The burst wounded the Grunt Heavy manning the gun, and a DMR shot killed it. Teana ran toward the other, dodging shots as she switched Mirage to sword form. Once she got close, she swung, slicing off the barrels of the gun. The Grunt panicked and tried to escape, but she stabbed it through the chest, steam whistling out as blood flash-boiled. The alien slumped dead in the seat.

Seeing that the air was clear, a Pelican flew in, dropping a Warthog mounted with an M79 MLRS. The trio made their way toward it, as Carter contacted them.

"Kat, be advised. ONI has identified two hostile anti-aircraft guns southwest of your location."

"Copy, Commander" Kat replied, as she manned the rocket system, Jess taking the driver's seat and Teana riding shotgun, her Device again in rifle mode. "New target, Six. Shut down those AA guns".

He nodded, and hit the gas. The Rocket Hog followed a path bordering the cliff edge, taking a 30-foot drop into a small canyon and hanging a left. Ahead, a Covenant "Tyrant" Anti-Air Cannon could be seen sitting atop a humongous flat-topped boulder that was more than big enough to support it and the two-dozen Covenant guarding it. The gun fired a three-shot volley into the distance; Jess couldn't see if it hit anything.

"Two-Lima-Four to Noble-1" reported a Longsword pilot, "those guns are pounding us with high-velocity plasma shells."

"Which would mean that a strike from the frigate _Grafton _is also out of the question" Dot continued.

"Noble-6," Carter radioed, "all our birds are stuck out of range unless you can do something about those guns."

"We have one in sight now, Commander" Jess replied. "Just gotta clean out the guards first."

As they approached a cliff edge just past the gun, splattering a pair of inattentive Skirmishers, they looked out and saw a massive battle. A force of Covenant Wraiths and Banshees, topped off by a trio of Scarabs, traded fire with Warthogs, Falcons, Hornets, and Scorpions. One Scarab was forced to lower to the ground as its left front leg took too much damage.

The sight-seeing was interrupted as Kat fired the launcher at a Ghost coming to investigate. Four rockets slammed into the Grunt-piloted vehicle, which exploded from the hits. A Revenant came over the nearby hill, and two more rockets were fired as Jess moved the Warthog out of the way of a falling plasma shell. The two rockets did marginal damage, and Kat waited impatiently for the launcher's auto-reload to finish. Once it did, four more rockets took the Revenant down.

Jess drove the Hog up to a natural 'ramp', and Kat, having reloaded the launch system, took down an Elite General with four shots, turning the last two on some Jackals. Teana opened fire on the Grunts, firing repeated short bursts in full auto to take them down. She then hopped out of the vehicle and ran inside. She took down the energy shield protecting the core with two punches, and then stuck a plasma grenade to it. She then legged it out of the gun, the explosion going off behind her.

A low alarm began to sound as the gun began to shudder and spark. Just as Teana got back in the Warthog and Jess then reversed away from the structure, the AA gun exploded, the top part of it almost coming off.

"2-Lima-4" came the Longsword flight leader's voice, "permission to commence bombing run. Heading 224.6, over."

"Good work, guys" Carter said. "UNSC air support: skies are clear."

"Copy" came control. "2-Lima-4, bombing run, heading 224.6, permission granted. Out"

A trio of Longswords roared overhead, hitting the three Scarabs. Two went up in twin blasts almost immediately. The third collapsed to the ground, exploding three seconds later. Overhead, two gunmetal-grey ships flew in, opening fire on the Covenant forces below.

UNSC _BROADSWORD_-CLASS FRIGATE – 478 METERS

As the _Grafton _and the _Saratoga _provided heavy fire support for the UNSC ground forces, Jess took the Warthog to the right, passing under a destroyed bridge. A rocket barrage destroyed a Ghost, and fire from the passenger killed a pair of Skirmishers. The Hog drove around the hill, soon reaching a point where the slope was a low enough angle to climb safely.

At the top of the hill, a Wraith lobbed plasma mortars at a Pelican, while a Phantom fired its chin-gun at the human vehicle (the rapid rate of fire from the Phantom's chin-gun revealed it to be a T-52-B, compared to the T-52-C which fired shots more akin to an oversized concussion rifle, and the T-52-A that carried three rapid-fire turrets). (AN: T-52-A is _Halo 2_ model; T-52-B is _Halo 3 _and _ODST _model, and T-52-C is _Reach _model. This is not technically canon.)

A quintet of rockets hit the unsuspecting Wraith in the aft end, and the hover-tank went up in a burst of blue flame. One reload later, and another three rockets hit the side of the Phantom. The Covenant dropship's pilot, deciding that this just wasn't worth it, bugged out, freeing the slightly singed Pelican to deposit a deployable bridge over the gap. Jess took the Rocket Hog over the bridge, driving through a short canyon, where Kat killed a quarter of Skirmishers.

**Hand Over Fist**

The trio reached a spot overlooking a large structure, and saw a squad of army troopers exchanging fire with a squad of Covenant clustered around a Shade.

"Noble," Carter radioed, "there's a mining facility near your location. The Covenant are using it as a command outpost. Clear it out."

The Warthog drove up to the bridge, pulling in next to the squad, and Kat opened fire with the MLRS. Four rockets reduced the Shade to twisted metal, and the trio of Spartans then disembarked and engaged the remaining hostiles. A Jackal was backhanded over the bridge railing by Jess, and two Grunts were knifed by a particularly angry soldier. Soon, the front area was clear, and the three Spartans and nine troopers climbed a nearby short set of stairs onto a walkway that wrapped around the building.

"New intelligence" Dot's voice came in. "Friendly forces near the Covenant outpost have sighted a high-value target: an Elite Zealot."

"A Zealot?" Kat questioned. "We're on to something big here, Commander."

"Eyes on the prize, Noble" Carter replied. "Take out that Zealot if you get the chance, but keep moving towards the spires."

Jess jogged ahead and melee-killed a pair of high-ranking Skirmishers, discarding his nearly-empty DMR for a needle rifle and four extra clips of ammo for it from the first one. Teana grabbed the other Skirmisher's needle rifle and three clips. The group moved on, the two red-armored Spartans leading, and a frag grenade from Kat killed a pair of Jackals who rounded a circular tower. Jess spotted a group of Grunts standing next to a fuel tank. He fired a grenade, and the fuel tank went off, roasting the three aliens.

The group moved on, rounding the tower and walking up the stairs. Teana fired three needle shots into a Grunt Ultra, and the trio of needles resonated and 'super-combined', the explosion tearing the alien's chest open. Jess took down two lesser Grunts with a headshot each. The two then grabbed more ammo clips from a nearby Covenant ammunition crate. Kat and three troopers moved past them and up the stairs, encountering a red-armored Elite and a blue-shielded Jackal. Kat and two of the troopers focused assault rifle on the Elite, bringing it down, while the third trooper rushed in and shot the Jackal's exposed hand with a shotgun, blowing it off. A second shot exploded the alien's head. The trooper was promptly cut down by a short barrage of plasma bolts from the plasma turret 100 feet to the left.

Jess & Teana focused fire on the Elite manning the turret, and quickly wore through its shields. A needle shot from Jess killed it, and Jess ran up and melee-killed a Jackal, before turning to the turret and ripping it free. The group moved on, rounding a corner and reaching a small courtyard beneath a large overlook. On the overlook, a pair of Jackals accompanied the Elite Zealot, who stood proud in red and gold armor. He spotted the humans and pointed, the two Jackals nodding and opening fire.

Jess, Teana, and Kat hopped down and started across the courtyard, while the army troopers kept the Jackals' attention. They climbed a short flight of stairs, Teana tossing a grenade to kill a trio of Special-Ops Grunts. Jess used the turret to mow down two more black-armored Grunts on the next set of stairs, and then walked up it.

The Zealot was focused on the army troopers, firing concussion rifle shots and generally forcing them to keep their heads down. Jess opened fire with the plasma turret, catching the Elite leader by surprise. He didn't give the alien a chance to run for cover or gather itself, and when Kat chipped in with assault rifle fire, the high-strength shields failed, and the Zealot fell. The two Jackals, stunned by the death of the commander of the Covenant forces in the area, were easy prey for Teana, who leapt in, using her rifle's energy bayonet to cut them down.

"High-value target has been neutralized" Kat commented. "Impressive, Six."

Jess walked up to a hole in the floor, firing the turret down at the two Spec-Ops Grunts he saw, and then leaping down to kill the third. The two female Spartans followed him in, Kat hurrying down the stairs and hosing the three Grunt Minors with assault rifle fire. Jess rounded a corner, catching two Grunts by surprise and taking them down with the turret. Kat grabbed a plasma launcher, and the three then headed for the Covenant vehicles they'd found. Jess hopped in the pilot's seat of the Revenant Kat joining him in the passenger's seat. Teana mounted a Ghost.

The two-vehicle convoy hovered down the canyon, encountering a blue-armored Elite and four Grunts. A plasma shell from the Revenant took out the Grunts, while fire from the Ghost's guns downed the Elite quickly.

"Could you two perhaps save some for me?" Kat remarked.

"Sorry, ma'am" Teana replied. "We'll try."

As they moved on, Carter contacted them again. "Update, guys: scans show another Covenant AA gun ahead of your location. I want you to neutralize that gun by any means necessary".

The two vehicles soon reached another wide-open rocky area; on a tall rock outcropping sat the AA gun. They drove off a gap created by a broken bridge, landing to the right of a passing trio of Jackals. Teana used the Ghost to kill two of them, the third being obliterated by a Revenant shell. They then went left, spotting a red-armored Elite and four Grunts. Kat fired her pistol at the top of the rock wall above and to the right, killing two Skirmishers.

Jess hit the boost, smashing into the Elite and crushing its torso. He hit the brakes, and the momentum launched the dying alien into a Grunt, knocking it over and freaking it out. A plasma shell killed two of the Grunts, and Kat fired a plasma launcher grenade at the first Grunt, also blowing apart the still-barely-alive Elite.

The two vehicles then took evasive action to dodge the plasma mortar shell, turning to face an approaching Wraith. Teana drove up and peppered the front armor with plasma bolts. The Wraith responded by trying to boost into her. She slid the nimble craft out of the way, and then began pouring fire into the more vulnerable rear section. Before she could finish it off, it turned back around to face her… and was hit in the rear by a shot from Jess' Revenant. The engine overloaded and burst into flame, the 47-ton hovercraft hitting the ground with a thud.

The three Spartans then went up a nearby rock ramp, and two Hunters emerged from the gun's interior. Jess began firing the Revenant's main gun as fast as the mechanism would respond without overheating the weapon. Teana started blasting them with Ghost fire, and Kat launched several plasma launcher grenades. The sheer volume of plasma fire superheated the beasts' armor, roasting the Lekgolo within. The Hunters keeled over, their innards smoking.

Jess drove up, firing several plasma shells into the gun's interior, eventually overloading the core. The gun's alarm began to sound, signaling the two vehicles to hurry down the slope. Several seconds later, the AA gun exploded, multiple gouts of flame tearing their way out across the weapons' structure.

A Pelican then flew in, launching a barrage of missiles at a Wraith on the far side of the gun. The alien tank quickly went up in a blue explosion under the assault, as the human dropship turned its attention to a pack of Jackals and Grunts, raking chin-gun fire across them and reducing them to bloody chunks. The ground clear, the dropship then descended and released its cargo: a marine squad, accompanied by two ODSTs.

"Well done, Noble" Carter's voice came in. "ONI needs close-up recon on those spires; we're gonna fly you the rest of the way."

"Jorge has a Falcon inbound to our position" Kat stated to Jess & Teana, before contacting Carter. "Commander, I'm going to set up a forward observation post here."

"Copy that" came the reply. "I'm waiting on new intel. Carter out."

The trio disembarked their stolen vehicles as a Falcon descended. Jorge was already aboard. "Need a lift, Spartans?"

Jess took the port-side grenade turret, Teana the starboard one.

"We spotted some nasty business in the canyon on the way down" the older Spartan said.

"I'll call out targets as we go" the pilot radioed, as the Falcon lifted off.

**The Spire**

"Top of the canyon, dead ahead" the pilot called out. Jess fired a few grenades at a pack of Jackals coming out of a tunnel on the left, while the Elite on the right edge of the bridge got blown away by Teana's turret. On the left side of the open area, Scorpions and Wraiths exchanged fire in the distance, the two UNSC frigates pitching in to further tip the odds in the humans' favor.

Both Spartans opened fire, Jess slagging a heavy Shade turret while Teana blew up a trio of Elites. As the Falcon advanced, Jess claimed two more turrets and a Wraith, while Teana destroyed a turret and a pack of Grunts. Soon, the craft approached a massive translucent blue dome, which repelled all fire from the frigates' ventral guns. In the center of the dome stood a massive blue and purple spire.

"There's our target" Jorge said.

"Latest intel suggests these spires may be projecting electromagnetic cloaking shields" Dot said over the comm.

"Priority one, pilot" Jorge ordered. "We've gotta know what's in there."

"Affirmative, sir" the pilot nervously replied, gathering his courage and inching closer to the blue field. "Here we go."

As soon as the Falcon passed through the field, things went wrong.

"We just lost all power! We're goin' down!"

The Falcon began to spin and fall, its rotors shutting down. "Lock your armor, Spartans!"

"Brace for crash-landing!"

There was a crunch, and the world seemed to spin and jump. After several seconds of tumbling, Teana got to her feet, stumbling slightly as she walked over and grabbed hold of Jess' hand, pulling him to his feet. Jorge tossed some equipment out of the wrecked craft.

"Crew's dead" he said, gesturing to blood splattered on the inside of the cockpit canopy. "We shouldn't stay here." He bent over and picked up his machinegun. Jess' grenade launcher was gone, but his needle rifle was still intact and with him, along with four clips of ammo, plus two more Teana gave him, considering her own needle rifle was gone. He grabbed a jetpack and snapped it on, as Teana readied Mirage Rifle.

"I'm picking up hostiles all over the place" Jorge said. "We've gotta move."

The trio worked their way across the river, Jess using his needle rifle to kill a beam-rifle-wielding Skirmisher atop a boulder. Two more Skirmishers, one with a needle rifle and the other with a carbine, also went down.

"Commander," Jorge radioed, "we've got eyes on the spire. Looks like a staging area."

"Copy, we have your visual. Dot's working the problem; stand by."

The group moved on, Jorge mowing down a group of Grunts to the left while Jess & Teana ventilated the skulls of another Grunt pack coming down from the right. Teana scampered up the boulders, grabbing the dropped particle beam rifle. 100% charged. She tossed Jess another clip of needle rifle ammo. She then fired a shot at an Elite Major manning a plasma turret up ahead; the particle beam drilled its way through the Elite's skull, and it slumped over the gun.

As the trio reached a rock outcropping and the spire came into full view, a Phantom appeared out of nowhere in the Spire's midsection, and flew off.

"What the…?" Teana's head tilted in confusion.

"Noble-5," Dot contacted, "ONI believes those spires to be teleportation terminals."

"Teleporters?" Jorge questioned. "Linked to what?"

"Frigate _Grafton _is on station ready to kill that spire," Carter radioed, "but first we need to power down its shields."

"Understood." The tall Spartan turned to the red-armored pair. "I'll hold these bastards off; you two find a way to the top of that spire."

Teana used her beam rifle to kill an Elite manning an FRG Shade at the base of the spire; in response, a pair of Banshees flew in. One flew low enough for Jess to jet up and grab on. He wrenched the cockpit open and kicked the Elite pilot out, and then flew back down so Teana could grab onto the wing. Once satisfied that she was holding on tight, he flew the craft up, quickly reaching the top of the tower.

"Spartans," Carter radioed, "I'm en route with a Falcon. I'll pick you up as soon as you knock out power to that shield."

"Hurry, you two" Jorge called as they reached the top, Teana hopping down as Jess set the Banshee down and climbed out. "We've got a frigate inbound to blow that spire to kingdom come."

Teana switched her Device to dual pistol mode and opened fire on a trio of Spec-Ops Grunts, while Jess used his needle rifle to take down a fuel-rod-gun-wielding Grunt Heavy further in. As they entered the structure, they heard a roar, and an Elite Ultra charged them, wielding a plasma sword. Teana stored one of her pistols and switched the other to Longsword Mode, blocking the alien's downward strike. She parried another strike, and thrusted forward. The blade slid off the alien's shields, draining them almost completely. A kick to the midsection took the shields down, and after five more seconds of swordplay Teana saw an opening and took it, spearing the Elite in the chest, right through the alien's right heart. She sliced left, bisecting the other heart and cutting out beneath the left armpit. The Elite collapsed.

Jess walked up, killing another FRG-wielding Grunt, and hit the button on the console. He and Teana then sprinted out of the building, just as a Falcon hovered up. They jumped, and Carter caught Teana while Jorge grabbed hold of Jess, the two Spartans pulling their comrades in.

"Get us out of here" Carter radioed the pilot, who was happy to oblige. As the Falcon moved away, Carter radioed the main base. "Control, Spire One is green, and you're free to engage. Have a nice day."

"Copy that, Noble-1" came air control's reply. "Be advised, all ground units: Frigate 318-Heavy is inbound, and MAC rounds have been authorized.

"MAC rounds?" Jorge said incredulously, "In atmosphere?"

"One way to get their attention" Carter replied. "Hang onto your teeth, people."

The quarter looked to the side as the _Grafton _passed them, flying toward the tower. After a few seconds, the ship's MAC fired at 5% charge. The hypersonic 600-ton shell tore through the spire, which began to fall in on itself.

A purple glow in the sky heralded a thin white beam of death, lancing down from on high. It gutted the frigate, hitting the bridge. A massive explosion ripped through the ship's aft end, and secondary explosions chained along its length as it began to fall. The Spartans watched in horror.

"New contact" Auntie Dot stated. "High tonnage."

"No…" Jorge muttered as he spotted the culprit. "Somebody tell me this ain't happening…"

"UNSC frigate _Grafton_, do you copy?" air control tried to reestablish contact.

"_Grafton _is scrap!" Carter called out over the radio. "We need to get the hell out of here _now_!"

High above, the largest starship Teana had ever seen, easily dwarfing the TSAB's largest battlecruisers, filled the sky.

COVENANT _DIVINITY_-CLASS SUPERCARRIER – 10,692 METERS

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Uh-oh! Bad guy surprise! What will our heroes do next? ...Eh, you know already.


	7. Long Night Of Solace

Here's Chapter 7. Things are starting to go downhill.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Reach**

**Szurdok Ridge, Ütközet**

**August 13****th****, 2552**

A Scarab's foot came down several meters from the entrance to the cave Noble Team was currently hiding in. The walker failed to notice the Spartans passing into the cave, and stomped away.

"Our foe is more devious than we imagined" said the computerized voice of Auntie Dot. "That spire was indeed a teleporter linked to a cloaked Covenant supercarrier – a grave threat."

Jess, Jorge, and Jun walked into the cave, Jorge hefting some sort of case.

"Thankfully," Dot continued, "help is imminent. 60% of the UNSC Navy is en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive within 48 hours."

"48 hours?" Jun said, exasperated. "That's 'imminent'?" He looked to his right, and promptly reached up and brushed the smoldering ash off of Jorge's shoulder plate. He then noticed the small debate/argument at the other end of the cave. "Uh-oh. Who's your money on this time?"

"Her" Jorge replied, gesturing at Kat as he removed his helmet.

"You _always _pick her."

"She's always had him dialed in."

"That thing's crushing us," Kat said, "and we're waiting for backup? They'll be backing up a graveyard."

"There's nothing we can do, Katherine" Carter replied. "All our nukes are either out-system or went down with the ships that carried them. You're preaching to the converted."

"How converted?"

"I know that look, Kat."

"You can say no."

"No."

"You don't even want to hear it?"

A sigh. "Fine, I'll hear it."

"Remember that accident a couple years back? Colony ship en route to Cygnus? 700 dead?"

"Vaguely. A slipspace drive malfunction, right?"

"Actually, the drive worked fine. But it was mounted improperly after a service haul-out. So, when it fired, it teleported half the ship to oblivion."

"And _how _is this relevant to our current situation?"

"A certain Covenant supercarrier could, with some assistance, suffer the same 'unfortunate accident'…"

"Even for you, Kat, that's…"

"Inspired?"

"Not the word I would use…"

At this point, the others came up everyone except Jess and Emile helmetless. "What's going on?" Jorge asked.

Carter looked to Kat. "Go ahead. Explain."

Kat reached for Emile's kukri; Emile responded by grabbing her by the wrist. "May I?" she asked, getting the message.

"…Don't cut yourself." He handed her the weapon. She crouched down and began using the blade to draw in the dirt.

"Objective:" she explained, "destroy Covenant supercarrier in geosynchronous orbit."

"This sanctioned, sir?" Jorge asked.

"What do you think?" Carter replied.

"Oh."

"Method: a slipspace drive, in lieu of the nukes we don't have. Delivery system? Us. Solvable? Getting us up there, and getting our hands on a slipspace drive." She stood back up, brushing the dirt off the tip of the blade before handing it back to Emile. "Thank you for sharing."

"So…" Carter said. "All we need is orbit-capable transport, and the single most expensive piece of equipment made by humankind."

"As a soldier in the field," Kat replied, "I couldn't possible have access to those kinds of resources. That said, a good place to look might be… I don't know… the nearest nonexistent launch site of the nonexistent Sabre Program, dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor… and in which our newest member…" she looked at Jess, "was certainly never a pilot."

Teana chuckled. Emile started. "…You're scary. You know that?"

"All we need is a green light from Holland."

"Good luck with that" Carter said.

"You're the one asking him" replied Kat as she handed him a datapad.

"…There's no way in hell he's gonna go for this" Carter muttered, as Kat helped remove a few sections of armor and got to work on getting the kinks out of Teana's shoulders. Being the only girls in the squad, they had to watch out for each other, after all.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Sabre Program Launch/Research Range, Farkas Lake, Eposz**

**August 14****th****, 2552**

Two Falcons flew in, dropping off their cargo: Carter, Kat, & Jess from one, and Jorge & Teana from the other. The craft flew back the way they came, as the five Spartans looked at the deceptively clear sky.

"Bit of a hike to the launch facility…" Jorge said, as his eyes followed a Seraph overhead.

"Any closer's too hot to land" Carter replied. "Move up the beach, Noble."

**First Floor: Beaches, Aliens, Top-Secret Launch Facilities**

The quintet passed between two large boulders, and emerged onto the main beach. The sky was filled with Covenant Seraphs, and with shots from AA guns in the nearby base. Jess pulled his pistol up and shot three Grunts in the head, just as a Covenant drop-pod landed behind the Grunts. From it came a blue-armored Elite. The combination of Jess' assault rifle and Carter's DMR quickly brought it down.

The group moved right, mowing down another group of Grunts and a red-armored Elite. Another drop-pod landed up on a nearby small hill, and a white-armored Elite Ultra leapt out. Teana fired a 40mm grenade at it; the grenade smacked into the Elite's chest and detonated, weakening the alien's shields. A barrage of bullets from Jorge's machinegun did the rest.

As the group created the hill, a Seraph was hit by one too many AA rounds. It spiraled out of control, smashing into the launch facility at high speed, by sheer chance crushing the AA gun that had fired the fatal shot. Carter winced at the irony.

The Spartan team advanced toward the building, Jess throwing a frag grenade to kill a trio of Jackals. He then flanked right, going around a large boulder. He tossed his other frag at the four Grunts who were distracted by the other Spartans, killing them before they knew what hit them. Teana fired three-round bursts at an Elite Ultra higher up, but it ducked behind cover. Jess moved up, caught the alien unawares, and stuck a plasma grenade to its upper back. The burnt, headless carcass slumped to the ground, and the two Grunts nearby lost discipline, breaking ranks and trying to flee. Jorge gunned them down.

Teana fired three shots into the chest of one of the Jackal Marksmen guarding the door, while Carter shot the neck of the other one. The door opened, revealing an army trooper. "Everybody inside!" he called. "More hostiles on the way!"

The Spartans ran into the building, Jess grabbing the Jackals' needle rifle and five clips of ammo for it. As they went in, a Pelican swept in behind them, dropping a squad of marines to cover the door.

"Flight control's this way" another trooper said. "They're expecting you."

Noble arrived at the blasted-out section that the Seraph had crashed into earlier, stepping over bits of rubble.

"Still can't believe Holland said yes to this" Jorge muttered.

"Well," Kat replied, "some plans are too good to say no to."

"Let's get those Sabres airborne before he changes his mind" Carter said. As they passed, an army trooper fired a rocket at a Wraith down below. The rocket hit the top hatch, blowing it off. A second rocket went off inside the cockpit, fragmenting its driver and wrecking its controls. The tank dropped to the ground.

The group moved on, Jess leading, and was startled by the sight of an army trooper flying through the air from the right, crashing into a wall. An Elite Major stepped into view, and Jess quickly ran at him. He tackled the Elite, knocking him onto his face, and before the alien could get up Jess leapt up and then came boots-down on the Elite's neck. They continued on.

"Warning" the computerized voice came over the PA system. "Launch facility has been breached."

The next room was dark and filled with dead army troopers. As they reached the far side, a bulkhead rose to reveal a large craft sitting like a 20th-century-style space shuttle waiting for takeoff. Lights snapped on, highlighting the YSS-1000 'Sabre'.

"Jorge, Six" Carter ordered. "Get to the Sabre before the Covenant wreck it."

"What about you three?" Jorge asked.

"Teana's gonna head about five minutes down the hall to another Sabre and follow you guys up. Jun's on his way with a Falcon, so Kat & I will exfil after you launch. Go!"

"Launch teams," a trooper called, "Sabre is prepped and ready for launch." Jess and Jorge stepped through a curved hallway. On the way, Jess stopped at a dead Elite Ultra and grabbed the alien's plasma sword from its hand, clipping it to his waist. The two then walked up the catwalk to the craft's cockpit. Jess hopped in the pilot's seat, shifting to get comfortable, while Jorge hopped in behind him. The cockpit sealed shut, and the ramp detached and folded away.

"Struts disengaged" came a recording. "Commencing launch in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…"

The Sabre's engines roared and flared to life, and after a few seconds the craft began to rise into the sky, gaining speed as it went. Half a kilometer away, another Sabre launched from a neighboring facility.

"First-stage engine burn nominal."

Soon, the craft left the upper atmosphere, reaching low orbit.

"Stage separation in 3, 2, 1… stage separation."

Several _clanks _sounded as the Sabre's booster rockets detached and fell away, to be consumed by Reach's atmosphere. The Sabre kicked in its engines and rocketed towards station Anchor-9.

"Second-stage ignition confirmed."

Below was a magnificent view of Reach, including a massive hurricane slowly but surely making its way for the coast. Soon, the craft reached the station.

**Operation: UPPER CUT**

"Noble Actual to Sabre Bravo-0-2-Niner, over" came a familiar voice over the comm.

"Copy, Actual" Jorge replied. "Colonel Holland?"

"Affirmative, Noble-5. Welcome to Operation: Upper Cut. I'll be your control from here on out."

"Understood, Colonel."

"Noble-6, these Sabres have been customized for orbital defense. You may need to get reacquainted. Rendezvous at Anchor-9 with frigate _Savannah _and the other Sabres as soon as you're ready. Holland out".

Overhead, the UNSC frigate slowly approached the station, preparing to dock. Jess spent the next few minutes practicing light maneuvers and configuring systems. Soon, Charlie-0-1-7 joined in, Teana sitting in the passenger seat behind Captain Jacob Rawley, who was currently wondering how his Pelican-piloting sister Carol was doing.

The Sabres – seven in all – headed for the station. "_Savannah _Actual to Sabre teams" came the frigate's Commander, "be advised; we have multiple bogies inbound."

"Anchor-9 to all UNSC ships" radioed the station commander. "Station defenses are down. Requesting combat support until we can bring them back online."

"Here we go, Six" Jorge said to his partner. "Let's show them what you can do."

Several seconds later, multiple Space Banshees flew in, immediately engaging the station defenders. The Banshee Interceptors had numbers and maneuverability on their side, but lacked offensive power and defensive shields. The Sabres, protected by shields and carrying powerful guns, and piloted by elite-trained personnel, quickly whittled down the assault without losing any fighters.

"Anchor-9 to UNSC ships: impulse drive signatures detected – fighter class. Heads up, Sabres."

Five Seraphs warped in. These tougher craft gave a bit more trouble, carrying shields and heavier weapons. Nonetheless, despite a few very close calls, the Sabres managed to again triumph without loss.

"Anchor-9 to all craft in the vicinity, be advised: we show a large attack force inbound. Combat air patrol and Sabre teams are directed to engage and defend the station."

"Is there any place the Covenant isn't?" Jorge quipped.

"Anchor-9 to all UNSC ships: station defenses are back online. Clear the lane, and we'll light 'em up."

A mixed force of Banshees and Seraphs, larger than the previous two combined, warped in. Several Banshees were shredded by Anchor-9's now-active point-defense guns, and the Sabres joined the fight as well. This skirmish saw the first UNSC loss of the battle, as Alpha-1-3-7 took too many hits and exploded violently, its lone pilot at least being killed quickly by the blast rather than the horrible death of being thrown into a vacuum. A chunk of the Sabre, carried by momentum, tore through a Banshee Interceptor, shearing it and its pilot in two.

A few minutes in, five specially modified Phantom Gunboats flew in, protected by nigh-impenetrable forward-facing shields and carrying huge plasma guns. Charlie-017 and Bravo-029 flew past them, taking up position behind them, and opened fire with their missiles. Four missiles to the back end of each gunboat, and soon the five Phantoms were scrap being drawn in by Reach's gravity. The few remaining Space Banshees pulled a hasty retreat, being hounded by the Sabres and by Anchor-9's guns. All the Seraphs were already scrapped.

"Anchor-9 to all UNSC ships: all targets neutralized. Bravo-029, you are clear to dock."

"Holland to Bravo-029. Noble-5, you ready to go?"

"Affirmative, Colonel."

B-029 and C-017 flew toward the station, docking just outside the station's two hangars.

"I'm out here, Six" Jorge said.

"Warning" said a computerized voice. "M-Spec re-entry pack disengaged."

"I need your override."

"Warning. M-Spec re-entry-" the voice cut off as a hiss sounded. "Cockpit depressurization complete. Canopy release lever armed."

Jorge pulled a lever, and the two seats slid backwards as the canopy opened. He climbed out and pushed off, heading for a Pelican on the other side of the station. As he passed Teana who was heading the other direction, towards Jess' Sabre, he looked down at the carnage below, on the planet's surface.

"_Megszakad a szivem_..."

"Noble-5?" Dot questioned. "Please repeat."

"Pull up surface grid 19 by 22" was Jorge's response.

"Gladly" Dot said, as an explosion went off far below, "ONI Sword Base: Sector 18-G." Another explosion ripped through the area, clearly visible even this far up.

"Thermal enhance"

"…Noble-5, your pulse rate is elevated. There is nothing you can do for Dr. Halsey and the others inside Sword Base. The mathematics are determinate… Noble-5?"

"…I know."

Teana reached Jess' Sabre, climbing aboard and getting in the rear seat. "Bravo-029" said Anchor-9's control, "you are cleared to re-engage thrusters." Jess hit a switch, and the cockpit closed.

"Noble-6, this is Holland."

"Go ahead, Colonel"

"We've flagged a Covenant corvette on a predicted docking track with our target."

Jorge reached the Pelican carrying the drive-cum-warhead, latching on the getting to work helping set things up.

"Get our makeshift bomb onboard that corvette," Holland continued, "and we have our delivery system. Noble-5 will escort the bomb. I need your Sabre team to clear the way for boarding."

"Understood, Colonel."

"As she's already donated her slipspace drive to the cause, the _Savannah _will be joining you to provide local fire support.

"This is UNSC _Savannah_" CMDR Hendrickson radioed, "Our wings may be clipped, but we've got your back."

The frigate detached from the station and took off, the six Sabres flying escort.

"I've stuck my neck out for this one, Noble" Holland radioed.

"We'll get it done, Colonel" Jess replied. "Six out."

Several minutes later, the UNSC force came into visual range of the corvette, the slightly smaller vessel unaware of the approaching frigate.

"Target corvette sighted within visual range of NAV Beacon RA-15" Dot said.

"We have visual" Jess said. "Target confirmed."

The _Savannah _got into position, and opened up with every non-MAC gun that had the Corvette in its field-of-fire. "Frigate _Savannah _in position" Commander Hendrickson called, "We are currently jamming the corvette's comms; hit it hard while it can't call for help."

"Agreed" Holland replied. "Sabre teams, clear a path to that corvette."

After 20 seconds of Banshee-shooting, Hendrickson radioed again. "Might wanna clip her engines, guys. See if we can slow her down."

"Good thinking, _Savannah_" Holland said, "That'll make boarding her a whole lot easier. Sabres, I'm marking targets; take out the corvette's main engines."

Three Sabres responded, Jess' one of them, the trio flying low and getting behind the vessel. They let fly their missiles, and the four thrusters tucked into the corvette's rear were soon billowing flames. Seconds later, a half-dozen Seraphs arrived from elsewhere.

"Heads up, Sabres" the Commander called. "Multiple impulse drive signatures detected. More bogies incoming."

"Echo-2 to _Savannah _Actual" a Sabre pilot radioed. "Where are the reinforcements coming from? I thought the target was jammed."

"Must be squadrons coming back from patrol, Echo-2"

"Don't let any of them get away, Sabres" Col. Holland ordered. "Kill them before they bug out and warn that supercarrier what we're up to."

The next few minutes were a relative turkey-shoot, as the startled Seraph pilots failed to organize an effective counter in time before the Sabres, combined with heavy fire from the _Savannah_'s guns, took them out of the equation.

After the enemy support was destroyed, along with most of the corvette's defensive turrets, Col. Holland called in. "Dot, analyze all available data on that corvette. Find a way inside."

"Scans indicate a structural weakness surrounding a platform on top of the vessel."

"Assault teams, set down immediately on the corvette's topside landing pad".

The Sabres Bravo-029, Charlie-017, Alpha-218, and Bravo-074 set down around the large circular thing on top of the ship. Two Spartans and six vacuum-suited army troopers disembarked, readying weapons and double-checking supplies.

**And The Horse You Flew In On**

"Noble-6, Noble-7" Col. Holland radioed, "the _Savannah_'s counter-measures won't last forever. Find a way inside, and permanently disable the corvette's communications. As soon as we're sure the corvette can't squawk, we'll initiate Upper Cut phase two."

A single Elite Ranger rose up through the shield, and was promptly skewered by Jess' plasma sword. Another popped up across the platform, and was gunned down by the troopers, with support from Teana's rifle. The team then leapt through and slow-fell into the comm. chamber. Dead Elites and Grunts littered the area. Only Elite Rangers and a Grunt Ultra, safe inside vacuum-sealed armor, remained to provide resistance. Assault rifle fire downed the Grunt, and Jess & Teana dispatched the two Elites, Teana slicing one across the neck with her energy bayonet while Jess took the other down with needle rifle fire.

"Holland to _Savannah_: enemy comm. relay is now offline."

"Copy that" Hendrickson responded. "Halting counter-measures; diverting all power and personnel to weapons."

"Alright, Noble," Holland continued, "let's get that bomb onboard. Six, Seven, head for the hangar."

A door opened, revealing a pair of Grunt Ultras who were gunned down in less than a second, having been caught unawares. An Elite Ranger farther in returned fire with a plasma repeater, and Jess leapt in front of a trooper, letting his shields take the hits. Teana threw a plasma grenade, and in the low gravity it seemed to fly as it stuck to the Elite's faceplate, detonating and blowing its head off.

"Colonel," the army corporal radioed, "we're on our way to the hangar."

"Noble-5, meet 'em there."

"Affirmative" Jorge replied. "On approach."

The large hangar was populated by eight Grunt Ultras, four Elite Rangers, and an Engineer that floated high up, projecting an overshield onto the other Covenant forces. A trio of needle rifle shots blew it to pieces, and Jess then went up the ramp to the left, reaching a Covenant ammo crate and stocking up on needle clips, then getting to work on picking off targets. A shot from a needle-rifle-wielding Elite Ranger at the back of the room killed one of the troopers, the needle punching through his faceplate and his skull. Jess returned the favor, overloading the Elite's shields and head-shotting it. He then hopped down, drifting to the floor while shooting Grunts as he descended. Teana gunned down another Elite, and a third went down under sustained fire from three troopers. The fourth had its head lopped off by Jess' plasma sword. The hangar was clear.

"Noble-6," Jorge radioed, "go for those shield controls. I need in."

Jess leapt onto a platform and hit a glowing switch. Instantly the air returned and pressurized, the gravity coming back on in full, and the glowing blue shield wall changed hue. The Pelican passed through it, coming to rest as Jorge and six marines disembarked from the hangar.

"Powder keg is aboard, Colonel" Jorge radioed to Holland.

"Copy that" the Colonel responded. "Six and Seven, get your fireteam to the bridge; the corvette's refueling run with the supercarrier will have to be initiated manually. Five, stay with the bomb, and discourage the curious."

"My pleasure" Jorge said, and then turned to the other two Spartans. "Hear that, you two? I'll be all by my lonesome back here. Make it quick, would ya?"

"Save a few for us if you can" Teana responded. Jorge nodded and hefted his machinegun.

The surviving vacuum-suit troopers took up position around the Pelican, as did two of the marines. The other four marines formed up with Jess & Teana, who grabbed three frag grenades each, both checking their re-entry packs as they prepared themselves.

Two nearby doors opened, the left one revealing a very surprised pair of Grunts. Two needle rifle shots, and they were down. The other door, holding a pair of Grunts and two Elites – one Major, one Ultra – was more problematic. The Grunts went down quickly, but the Elite Major carried a carbine, and managed to shoot one of the army troopers through the chest. The man grabbed at his heart and keeled over. A marine threw a grenade, and it caused both Elites' shields to flare. Teana and the marines combined full-auto fire on the Ultra, taking it down, while Jess used the needle rifle to finish off the Major. A marine grabbed the Ultra's concussion rifle and three spare clips.

"_Savannah _to Holland!" came the panicky voice of Commander Hendrickson over the radio. "Sustaining major structural damage! We need to break off, Colonel!"

"Copy that, _Savannah_" Holland replied. "Our team is in! Disengage!"

The team entered another room, and Jess assassinated the lone Elite Ultra, but it was too late for the _Savannah_.

"Break off! Break off! Hull breach! Reactor's flaring! Damnit, I'm losing her!"

Small explosions rippled across the frigate's structure, and then a larger one accompanied the port engine breaking off and drifting away. Seconds later, a bright flash and a huge blast signaled the ship's reactor detonating, and the fried bits of ship drifted off in several directions.

"_Savannah _Actual, can you hear me?" Holland radioed.

"Frigate's gone, sir" Teana replied somberly.

"Damn it. Noble, you're in deep with no cover. Get that corvette moving and get the hell outta there!"

Another door opened to a winding corridor, and the team moved through. At the end, another door opened to a large, spacious room with a huge hologram of Reach in the center. Teana snuck through the various instruments, her relatively small size (5' 8.5" in armor, 5'6" without it) helping her as she reached the ship's navigations officer. A short jump, and she had a hold of his neck. A twist, and he collapsed.

This alerted the rest of the bridge crew, and the marines opened fire, mowing down the Grunts as Jess engaged an Elite, killing it before it could activate its active camouflage. Another Elite fell to Teana's sword, and then the Ship-Master emerged, clad in red and gold armor and wielding a concussion rifle. A shot from its gun caught a marine in the chest, blowing him open; his comrades returned the favor by pouring fire into the alien's shields. Jess grabbed a Needler off the ground and joined in, and soon they wore down the Elite's shields and buried themselves inside its flesh and armor. The eight needles super-combined, blowing the Elite's torso open. Jess casually stepped over the corpse and walked over to a highlighted panel. He hit it, and the ship lurched and began to move toward the supercarrier.

"Well done, Noble" Holland radioed. "UPPERCUT initiated; corvette is underway."

"Guys," Jorge said, "our ride out of here is taking heavy fire! Get back to the hangar!"

The door back to the gun battery opened, and a needle rifle shot struck a marine through the neck. He dropped like a rock. Jess threw a frag grenade, and the blast killed the two Grunts and depleted the shields of the red-armored Elite. A needle rifle shot from Jess killed it, and the team moved back through the hall, back to the gun battery. Another frag grenade tossed through an opening door killed two Jackals and two Grunts.

The group reached the hangar, and at this point only Jorge, the two marines, and a single suited army trooper remained. Jess' team joined the fight, soon clearing the hangar. Jess grabbed a plasma launcher from the ground.

"Good of you to come" Jorge said. "Hostiles were pounding the hell out of the Pelican."

A force of six Jackals – four shielded and two marksmen – emerged from the door on the left. A frag grenade killed the shield-wielders, and Teana gunned down the two marksmen. A plasma bolt from across the room nailed the last army trooper in the back of the head, killing him, and the rest of the humans turned to face the new arrivals. A red-armored Elite and four Grunts opened fire, and Jorge returned the favor, cutting down two of the Grunts. The marines took down the Elite, while Jess killed the other two Grunts.

Jess, following an instinct, tossed a frag grenade at the opening door that led to the comm. room. He was rewarded by a half-dozen dead Grunts. He then took the left ramp up, encountering a pair of Elites – one red, one blue. The plasma launcher took care of them. He hopped back down to the main area.

Then, a quarter of white-armored Elite Ultras came down from the far side of the room. One wielded two plasma rifles, another a plasma launcher, the third a concussion rifle, and the fourth a carbine. The next few minutes were hectic as the Spartans took down the Elites, but lost the rest of the marines. Finally, it was quiet.

"_Savannah_ did a number on the door" Jorge said. "There's no way back up to the Sabres. Six and Seven, form up on me." The two red-armored Spartans approached their taller friend, who walked up to the slipspace drive.

"Distance is closing on this vessel's refueling track with the Covenant supercarrier" Dot reported. "76 seconds to endpoint."

"Damn it…" Jorge fiddled with the timer. "So… it's gonna be like that…" He pounded it with his fist, and then turned to face his comrades.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news. This bird took some fire and her thruster gimbal is toast. Which means the only way off this slag-heap is gravity."

"And the good news?" Jess asked.

"…That was the good news."

"At current velocity, 53 seconds to endpoint."

Jorge pulled off his helmet, dropping it to the ground.

"The bad news is… the timer's fried. I'm gonna have to fire it manually."

"…No…" Teana's voice came out in a strained whisper as she realized what this meant. "…Jorge… you can't…"

"I'm sorry, Tia" Jorge replied, "but it's the only option we have left. You two'd better get going. They're gonna need you down there."

He walked up to the two, Teana's visor depolarizing to show him the shocked and horrified look in her eyes. "Reach… has been good to me. It's time I return the favor. Don't deny me this." He pulled his dog tags free and placed them in Teana's shaking hand, grabbing hold of her arm while doing the same to Jess with his other hand. He lifted them both off the ground and started walking towards the shield door. He could see the shocked yet understanding look in Jess' eyes, as well as Teana's wide eyes starting to tear up.

"Teana..." he said softly. "You've come so far. Your brother would've been _so_ proud of you. I'll tell him you said hello." The girl couldn't speak, only shaking her head as she couldn't come to believe this was happening. Jorge smiled sadly. "I'm thankful that I got to meet you. You were like a daughter to me." At this, the girl's tears finally started to fall.

"Good luck down there… and tell 'em to make it count." With a final shove, he pushed the two out through the shield, and Reach's gravity grabbed hold of them. As the corvette grew smaller in their eyes, the corvette began to spark and warp as it reached the entrance to the supercarrier's main hangar.

A blue-white rift opened in space-time, swallowing up the midsection of the supercarrier. When it closed, the corvette was gone, as was the center of the titanic vessel. Its front and rear ends drifted helplessly away. Jorge's final sacrifice killed over 60,000 Covenant troops.

…

"Slipspace ruptures detected."

"Gamma Station control, reading multiple pings below the orbital defense grid."

"Yeah, we're picking up anomalies, too."

"Are you reading this?"

"Multiple Covenant signatures! Way too damn many!"

"Does anyone have a visual?"

"Goddamnit, they're everywhere!"

"My God, this can't be happening…"

"It must be their whole damn navy!"

There were screams, and then silence.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	8. Exodus

Here's Chapter 8.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Reach**

**August 14****th****, 2552**

Jess limped toward the detached re-entry pack, shaking a kink from his arm as he moved. Behind him, the wreck of the Covenant supercarrier burned. He reached the pack and grabbed an M6 pistol with two spare clips of ammo. His other weapons had broken free during the descent and were lost. He turned around, and began walking, hoping to find civilization soon.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

The last several days had been hard. After Jess and Teana joined up three days after their landing, they'd continued looking for signs of human life, dodging Covenant patrols as they went. Four days in, they managed to link up with a surviving satellite for a world map, and promptly began heading towards New Alexandria, the nearest large city (which also happened to be a starport).

Now, the two crested a small hill, and the city came into view.

**New Alexandria, Eposz**

**August 23****rd****, 2552**

The city was in flames. A trio of Covenant corvettes hovered overhead, and AA fire ripped through the sky. Teana let Jorge's tags slip from her hand, swinging from the chain grasped between her fingers. She brought them up and stuffed them inside a compartment on her armor, and she & Jess worked their way down, Cross Mirage being shifted to single pistol mode.

They worked their way down, skulking around corners and hugging buildings. A railing had been blown out, and they stepped through, dropping 15 feet to the pathway below. They readied their weapons as a fluttering roar came from behind them.

**The Devil His Due**

The sound turned out to be a pair of Falcons which passed overhead, failing to notice the two Spartans below.

"This is Kilo Dispatch" said a man's voice over the comm. "All available teams, advance to Traxus Tower. Evacuation will commence ASAP."

"Copy, dispatch" replied the voice of another man with a southern drawl. "What's the status of the tower pad?"

"Tower pad is green. Let's move these civilians before it changes."

"Copy, Dispatch. 4-0 out."

The two moved on, and found a massacre. Dead civilians littered the area, and the pavement was red with blood. A wheelchair lay overturned on the ground, and an old man lay dead near it, his throat crushed. A young couple was braced against a wall, holding each other's hands in death. A child's ball, stained with blood, rolled across the ground.

Something was off, Teana thought. Grunts only attacked civilians when ordered to or when starving, and they always took care to leave the young alone. Hunters paid them no mind. And Elites abhorred the killing of civilians, considering it dishonorable and only attacking them if first attacked by them (they killed plenty during orbital bombardment operations, but that procedure was far more impersonal, easy to distance one's self from). Jackals & Skirmishers freely killed (and ate) noncombatants, as did Drones, but they hardly ever got to due to their commanders usually being Elites. Either there was a pack of Kig-Yar and/or a Yanme'e swarm operating without Elite command in the area, or something else had happened.

The two moved on, passing through a darkened room, the lights blown out, and reaching another door that led to a stairway. At the top of the stairs, a trio of Skirmishers conversed in their language of squawks and clicks; Teana blew the closest one's brains out, and Jess did the same to the other two. They moved up the stairs, Jess grabbing a Needler from the red-armored Skirmisher and two more clips of pistol ammo from a nearby fallen trooper. The duo then entered the next structure. A little ways in, they could hear the chattering of anxious Grunts.

"Romeo Company, be advised" a man's voice came over the comm. "We have reports of Covenant suicide squads."

"You've gotta be kiddin' me…" someone said.

"That's a negative. Keep your eyes open, troopers."

With fate thoroughly tempted, Jess accidentally stepped on a piece of plastic, which crunched under his boot. A few seconds later, three Grunts ran around the nearby corner toward him and Teana, each wielding two active plasma grenades. Jess snapped his pistol up and fired two shots, taking out the two closest Grunts. Their grenades dropped and detonated, blowing the third Grunt into the ceiling and setting off its grenades.

As the dust cleared, the Spartan pair moved on, activating their VISRs as the area darkened. At the bottom of the next staircase, a Grunt was shot down by Teana before it could draw its grenades. Another rounded the corner ahead, grenades alight, and was killed by Jess. Jess walked over to the first Grunt and grabbed three ammo crystals for his needler.

"Kilo-26, this is Kilo-40" said the southern-accented voice, Jess' & Teana's armor systems identifying him as Gunnery-Sergeant Pete Stacker. "Covenant corvette's rainin' hell on us! Final Protective Fire-1, danger close, on my command, over!"

"Copy, Kilo-40" the reply came. "FPF-1 at your command."

A few seconds, and then… "Fire FPF-1, over."

"Firing FPF-1… Shot."

"Hold on to your helmets!"

The ground shook violently, and further down another staircase, another Grunt stepped out from a hallway, spotted the two Spartans, and was about to pull out a grenade when a pistol bullet took its life.

The two Spartans jogged down the steps, reaching the entrance to the next little hallway. A Grunt at the other end saw them, dropped its Needler, and charged them while wielding a plasma grenade. Teana shot the live grenade in the alien's hand, and the bluish-white explosion consumed the Grunt. They moved to the doorway of a room containing an elevator, and three Grunts dropped their weapons and charged, grenades ready. Three cracks sounded, and three Grunts fell, their grenades going off a second later.

"Kilo-40," 26 radioed, "request FPF sitrep."

"Negative, 26! Corvette's still comin'!"

"Copy, 40. Firing FPF-2… Shot."

The ground shook again just after Jess grabbed another clip of pistol ammo from a fallen marine.

"Damn, how do ya stop that thing?"

Wary of the knowledge that nothing currently available could deal any meaningful damage to the enemy ships overhead, the two Spartans moved on. In the last room, on a higher level atop a zig-zagging staircase, a half-dozen Grunts saw their entry and charged, plasma grenades glowing. One well-placed shot from Teana set off a cataclysmic chain reaction that left the stairs melted and warped, while roasted Grunt giblets landed around the room. Fortunately, another stairway sat just to the left, and they made their way up, Jess grabbing three more Needler ammo crystals from the back of the room.

They passed through another door, finding daylight and deactivating their VISR systems, and two civilians – a pair of businessmen still wearing their suits – were hiding inside a small alcove. Just outside, a Spirit hovered, its doors opened as its occupants fired at the Spartans, who took cover. They were a type of Covenant that Teana had never seen before, but she did recognize them, having read up on this particular species and looked at images of them and their gruesome handiwork. And the earlier civilian massacre now made sense.

Jiralhanae. Brutes.

The Spirit's doors closed, and the craft flew away, seeking easier prey. Jess & Teana walked out into the open, and Jess looked left and fired a pair of pistol shots. The bullets blew through the skull of a Brute, and the lifeless alien dropped the civilian it had been holding up by the neck. Another Brute a little ways down fell to assault rifle fire from a trio of army troopers to the left. The troopers spotted the red-armored soldiers as they walked to go meet them.

"We picked up some friendlies!" one shouted.

"Spartans?" a female trooper said. "Where the hell'd they come from?"

"Who cares? Spartans! Help us get these civvies through! Evac Team 7 to Kilo-2-6; we have eyes on Traxus Tower, and we've picked up a pair of Spartans."

"Copy, Team 7" Kilo-26 responded. "Move to assist the evac."

Teana fired at a Brute that was about to stomp-crush the skull of a fallen civilian. The bullet hit the Bruter between the eyes, and it keeled over, the civilian man rolling to the side as the alien landed right where he'd been. Another Brute came around a tree to the left, and the two troopers crouched in a nearby corner opened fire with their assault rifles, blasting the low-ranked Brute's unarmored chest. After half a clip each, the Brute went down, and the two linked up with the three troopers following the Spartans.

A third Brute at the top of the nearby ramp fired its Spiker, and a trooper went down, a white-hot metal spike sticking out of his skull. He fell next to a civilian, a thin teen girl curled up behind a planter and wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt. Seeing an opportunity, she grabbed the fallen soldier's pistol, leaned out, and fired, hoping she managed to hit the furry alien. The bullet tore into the Brute's right shoulder, distracting the beast long enough for Jess to finish sneaking up on it. He slit the Brute's throat from behind, and the courtyard was clear.

"How do we get to the tower?" the female trooper questioned.

"The elevator in the atrium goes down to the cargo port," the fireteam leader responded, "and the cargo port goes to the tower."

Just then, the door that the humans were heading for opened. Jess tossed a grenade, killing the two Skirmishers and blowing the arm off one of the two Brutes. Assault rifle fire took down the maimed Brute, and pistol fire to the head from Teana killed the other one. The force of two Spartans and four army troopers move through, seven civilians following. At the top of some stairs, Teana pistol-whipped a surprised Grunt to death, and then blew the skull out of another.

Jess entered the next area, a long area with a high roof, and starting picking off Grunts with his pistol. Teana summoned her other pistol and then switched to Rifle Mode, firing in single-shot mode at Brutes. After the Grunts went down, Jess took down a Brute with the pistol, and then stopped to grab a DMR leaning against a planter, along with two clips of ammo. Teana managed to blow off the helmet of the Brute Captain higher up, and took him down with an eye-shot. She grabbed a dropped frag grenade, storing it on her hip. She and Jess moved on, Jess holding the DMR while the needler and pistol magnetically hung onto his left and right hips, respectively.

As they climbed the next stairway, they saw a pair of Skirmishers menacing some civilians. Teana rammed Mirage Rifle's energy bayonet through one's chest from behind, and Jess shot the other down with his pistol. A Brute leapt down from a nearby upper walkway, and Jess opened fire with his DMR, blowing its head-plate off and shooting it through the skull. Teana walked up to the elevator and hit the button. Several seconds passed, but no elevator showed up.

"What the hell's taking this thing so long?" the trooper team leader asked over the radio.

"Uh, we're evacuating a group of civilians on the floor below you" was GSgt. Stacker's reply. "As soon as they reach the cargo port, I'll send the elevator back up."

"Dropships!" another trooper called out, "They're pulling into the courtyard; watch your flanks!"

"Okay, everyone find some cover, stay sharp. We need to hold this position."

As the civilians took cover behind the open walls near the elevator, a Spirit flew overhead and came in to the courtyard on the left. It dropped off four Grunts, which were killed as soon as they landed by a frag grenade tossed by Jess. Two Brutes hopped out next, and Jess opened fire with his DMR, taking both down after several seconds. As the Spirit flew away, a Brute Captain charged toward him, wielding a Gravity Hammer. Jess grabbed his needler and fired; seven shards lodged themselves in the Brute's armor and super-combined, peeling the armor back like a tin can and blowing open the Brute's chest.

Jess heard fire from behind him, and turned to see Teana shooting at a trio of Skirmishers making their way up the stairs to his right. Two of them went down, and a third tried to rush past her to get to the civilians, only for Teana to stick her left arm out at neck level, clothes-lining the Skirmisher. She then used a bayonet strike to finish off the downed enemy.

Two Brutes came up the other stairway, and engaged the army troopers. One trooper went down, a plasma bolt searing through his face, and his comrades cut down the offending Brute. The other rushed forward and grabbed hold of another trooper, trying to kill him with its bare hands. Jess shot the Brute through the skull, and it dropped its prey. Another hammer-wielding Brute Captain charged up the stairs, and Jess again used his needler to kill it, the shards sticking into the Brute's neck and blowing its head off.

"Damn, Spartans!" the fireteam leader said appreciatively. "Glad you're on _our _side!"

Finally, the elevator arrived. Jess & Teana stepped in after he grabbed a few more ammo crystals for his needler, and the doors slid shut. A slight lurch, and the elevator began to descend.

"If you're tryin' to get to the tower," GSgt. Stacker radioed, "you're too late, Spartans. Corvette over the starport pounded the hell out of the place. Cargo port's impassable on foot; rooftop evacs are lost. We can use the executive landing pad, 'cept there's no easy way to get there. A group of ODST specialists are workin' a plan; they might appreciate some backup."

"Other side of the hall, Spartans" said a marine as the door opened. "Right through triage".

They passed through a lobby filled with injured troopers, marines, and civilians, as light piano music played over the speakers. Up ahead, a trio of ODSTs hunkered down near an ammo crate. One fired an M41 rocket at a passing Banshee, but the angle of the craft's approach and passing was too much for the warhead's tracking systems to handle, and it shot off into the distance harmlessly.

**Too Close To The Sun**

****Jess walked up to the ammo crate, grabbing three clips for his DMR. The ODSTs noticed them.

"Radio's buzzin' about you, Spartans" one said, as he and another shock trooper headed right, the two Spartans following him as well. A light hop over a small gap, and they passed into a chain-fenced area.

"You guys feel like jumpin'?"

A gate opened, and Jess & Teana each grabbed a jetpack.

"Welcome to the Bullfrogs" the ODST team leader said. "We're gonna capture the landing pad on the executive wing so the evac birds can land. Try and keep up."

The Teana of 15 or so days ago would've responded with a snarky comment, but recent experiences had drained her of that for awhile, so she kept silent as she and Jess jetted across the gap.

After a few minutes of platforming, the group reached a large area populated by Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes. As Teana took out several Grunts, Jess, while in midair, threw a frag grenade amongst a trio of Jackals. Just as his feet hit the ground, he heard and felt the _thump _on the level immediately above him, along with the screeches of the mortally wounded Jackals. He turned and went through a 180-degree stairway, coming out on the upper level just in time to take down a low-ranked Brute.

The ODSTs and Teana landed, a shock trooper tossing a grenade that killed all but two of the remaining Grunts. A Brute Captain with a hammer came around a large storage crate, and the trio of ODSTs opened fire. The Brute closed in, and one of the troopers was smashed by the hammer before he could get away, as the other two jetted backward to safety. Jess blew the Brute apart with his needler, just as two more ODSTs came in for a landing.

Jess and Teana then used rifle shots to pick off the Grunts and Brutes several yards away, soon clearing their current level of enemies. They and the four remaining ODSTs jetted up to the upper level, Jess heading to a catwalk on the right, using his DMR to kill a trio of Grunts while still airborne. The ODSTs began exchanging fire with four Brutes standing between them and their destination, led by a Captain wielding a concussion rifle. A plasma shell impacted an ODST in the jetpack, and he went rocketing out of control, smashing into a wall and then being consumed by the pack's explosion, his mangled carcass falling to the ground. Jess and Teana focused fire on the Brute Captain, quickly overwhelming its armor and bringing it down. The other three Brutes roared in anger. Teana switched attachments and fired a 40mm grenade at them, killing one of them, while Jess used his needler to kill another one. The last one threw its plasma rifle aside and beat its chest, roaring a challenge and charging at the tall red-armored Spartan, shrugging off shots from the ODSTs' assault rifles. Jess simply sidestepped and stuck his foot out, tripping the angry beast and causing it to faceplant. A knife strike to the back of the neck put it down for good.

The path clear, the two Spartans and three ODSTs moved on into the next room, a tall multi-leveled area. Following a waypoint on their HUDs, they jetted up to the top level, following a short path to another outside area, where a few civilians cowered as two ODSTs exchanged fire with a pack of Grunts. A grenade from Teana took out most of the Grunts, with a rifle shot killing the last one. She then picked up a nearby rocket launcher and a spare pair of rockets, while Jess grabbed the last remaining spare DMR pack.

The group moved out, the jetpack-wearers hopping up a level to a covered walkway that wrapped around a building. A Jackal with a focus rifle across the way spotted them and fired. Jess ducked, his shields drained by a third, and Teana peered through her rifle's scope and shot the little bastard through the mouth. They moved down the walkway, finding at the end a sniper rifle and two extra magazines. Jess grabbed the rifle and got to work, killing a pair of Brute Captains and a Jackal (which took two shots due to the shield) and then ducking down to reload. As he reloaded, Teana poked out and fired at another Brute Captain, blasting through his helmet and killing him. She launched a 40mm grenade at a pair of Jackals, killing them, and Jess got back up. He fired at a pair of Grunts on a staircase at the far left, killing both with a single round.

When the way was clear, Jess, Teana, and the two ODSTs with them hopped down, the civilians moving up behind them. They climbed a set of stairs and approached another, Jess using his needler to kill a surprise hammer-wielding Brute Captain. They moved up, Jess firing a sniper round at a concussion rifle-wielding Brute Captain up high, as Teana fired Mirage Rifle at some Grunts. Another trip up another flight of stairs, and they came across a bridge. A Falcon flew overhead, heading left while dodging fuel rod shots from a pair of Grunt Heavies at the other end of the bridge, and from an FRG Shade on the landing pad that the group was heading for. A near-miss took off one of the Falcon's landing skids, and it sped away as fast as it could, outrunning the rest of the fuel rod shots.

Jess opened fire on the Grunts with his DMR, killing the FRG-carriers first before turning his attention to the others. A pair of Jackals came from a door on the right, and Teana blasted them with a 40mm grenade. Two Brutes opened fire from an upper level, and Jess used his sniper rifle to kill them. Jess picked up two more clips of DMR ammo, and then he & Teana rushed forward. At the end of the bridge, Jess grabbed a fuel rod gun, giving his needler to Teana in favor of carrying two extra five-packs of fuel rod ammo. The pair went up a ramp to the left, using rifle fire to kill a Brute in the doorway ahead. They passed through, and found themselves overlooking the hall. Guarding the door was a Brute Chieftain, a fuel rod gun carried in his massive hands.

Jess got into position and, just as the Chieftain spotted him, fired his own fuel rod gun. Three direct hits drained the Chieftain's shields, and a fourth killed it. Teana used the needler to kill a pair of lesser Brutes and a white-armored Grunt, and then used Mirage Rifle to dispatch the rest. The two hopped down just as the ODSTs came in the front door, followed by the civilians. The two Spartans neared the door, Jess firing the current clip's last fuel rod to kill a pair of Jackals, and then reloading. Outside, a pair of FRG Shades swept their barrels across the sky, looking for targets. Jess stepped out and fired three fuel rods at the one on the left, destroying it. This caught the other's attention, and it turned to face him, Jess quickly running back inside and narrowly avoiding a shot. Teana ran out and fired a rocket at it, slagging the turret and its Grunt operator. Finally, the landing pad was secure.

"Yankee-9 to Echo Dispatch" said a voice over the radio. "Landing pad is clear. Send in the evac birds."

"Copy, Yankee-9. Birds away."

"Pleasure jumpin' with ya, Spartans" said the ODST team leader. "This is your ride" he gestured to a landing Falcon. Jess and Teana hopped aboard, taking the port and starboard machinegun turrets, as a Pelican came in to the landing pad, its rear door opening as the civilians ran toward it.

**I Should Have Become A Watchmaker**

"The city's been under siege for the last five days" the Falcon's pilot explained to the Spartans. "Thought we had it in hand, 'til those corvettes showed up. Our fleet's scattered, pullin' back. We all got orders to evacuate; guess some of us just don't like leavin' a job half-finished…"

"Evac transport Delta-15 to Evac Dispatch" the Pelican pilot reported as the last of the civilians climbed aboard. "Loaded up, ready to go!"

"Delta-15, this is Evac Dispatch. Copy that. Proceed at your discretion."

"Midtown airspace is way too hot," the Falcon pilot said, "we're gonna take an alternate route."

The two Falcons and Pelican took off, one of the Falcons sticking with the dropship, while the one carrying the two Spartans headed the other direction.

"Delta-15 to Dispatch," the pilot's voice now sounded a little worried, "Banshee squadron on my tail. Taking fire!"

"Copy, Delta-15. Can you-"

"Mayday! Port engines hit! We're going in! I'm going to try to set her down!" The damaged Pelican, by some stroke of luck, managed to touch down relatively safely, as its escort Falcon attacked the Banshees harassing it.

The Spartans' Falcon flew on, Jess opening fire on a hammer-wielding Brute Chieftain attacking a marine team as Teana shot at a Banshee, damaging it as it zoomed past her field of fire. The craft pulled out, trailing smoke from its port engine. The Falcon then descended, flying alongside a long covered walkway, and Jess took down another Hammer Chieftain.

"Fox Actual to frigate _Stalwart Dawn_" said the voice of a man identified on the Spartans' HUDs as Sergeant-Major Duvall. "Request immediate airstrike on Covenant corvette over starport."

"Solid copy, Fox Actual" replied the frigate's Commander. "Longswords unavailable at this time."

Teana opened fire on two more Banshees, taking down one and damaging the other, which was promptly shot down by Jess once it passed into his firing range.

"This is civilian transport 6-Echo-2. I need to go _now_, Sergeant-Major!"

"Hold on, Echo-2. _Stalwart Dawn_, I have multiple personal craft loaded with civilians. I have _got _to get them out of this city. I need air support _now_!"

"As soon as something frees up, you'll be the first to-"

"Not good enough!"

The Falcon flew over a battle between a Warthog and two Wraiths. Jess and Teana pointed their turrets down, pounding the top of a Wraith. With fire from them and the Warthog, the tank soon went up in a ball of flue fire. The other one was soon out of the turrets' range, though.

"I've got 600 souls onboard, Sergeant-Major" said the evac ship's pilot. "I can't wait any longer!"

"Negative, Echo-2! I can't cover you! Do _not _take off!"

"_Damn it_! I have no choice!"

The Falcon's occupants spotted a green civilian craft lifting off from the starport. It flew a few hundred feet… and a plasma torpedo from the above corvette hits the ship's port engine.

"By the Saint…" Teana muttered in horror, drowned out by the Falcon pilot's equivalent "Oh my God!"

"Mayday! Mayday!"

"6-Echo-2, can you maintain altitude?"

"Negative! We're goin' down!"

Teana felt her heart sink as the burning transport nosedived into the ocean below them. Jess bit back a curse.

"Son of a bitch…" their pilot gasped out. "I can't watch this…"

"Fox Actual," said Evac Dispatch, "should we send search-and-rescue birds?"

"Negative, Dispatch. There's no point."

The Falcon flew in, approaching a beach. Jess fired on the Covenant fireteam harassing the army troopers, killing a Brute, two Jackals, and a Grunt. The Falcon flew in and set down, Jess & Teana hopping out and walking over to the team leader, an older black man.

"I'm Sergeant-Major Duvall" the man said. "Awful day so far, eh? Let's keep it from gettin' any worse. Covvies are all over the missile batteries, and I've got 5,000 civilians waitin' for passage out. I need you two to arm those batteries and fire those missiles from the central terminals. Understood?"

"Affirmative" the two chorused.

"That corvette's been a pain in my ass for too damn long. Give it hell, Spartans!" He turned to his soldiers. "Troopers! We need to push 'em back off our beach!"

Jess headed for a Warthog, hopping in the driver's seat. Teana took shotgun, and Sgt-Maj. Duvall manned the M41. The Hog started up and drove around the boulder it was parked behind, easily dodging a Wraith mortar.

"Civilian transport 7-Echo-3 to Fox Actual: my engines are hot, waiting for your go."

"Copy that, 7-Echo-3. Workin' on it."

The Warthog drove over and through an open walkway, flattening a Grunt, and encountered a Wraith in the next area. Teana managed to hit the Grunt manning the turret, and Duvall opened fire with the big gun as Jess started driving in a circle around it. The Wraith tried to boost into them but missed, and Jess got behind it, allowing Duvall to fire the chaingun into its vulnerable rear section. Quickly, the tank went up in a burst of flame.

The Warthog then drove up a slope, catching 10 feet of air as it hit the top, and almost literally ran into another Wraith. Despite the smaller space, Jess managed to get behind it, and Duvall repeated the earlier method, again destroying the target. The Hog then drove up to the area immediately surrounding the first missile battery, Duvall and Teana firing on the Brutes guarding it. A Brute with a hammer fell first, followed by one trying to cross a bridge carrying a concussion rifle. Jess and Teana hopped out, gunning down the others up close. Jess walked up to the battery and keyed in a three-digit code, arming the missiles. He and Tia then hopped back in the Warthog, which drove left.

"This is 7-Echo-3; I need to go _now_, Sergeant-Major!"

"Easy, 7-Echo-3. Spartans are gonna clear the skies."

The Warthog drove up to the stairs leading down to the second missile battery, Duvall using the M41 to tear apart the Grunts and lesser Brutes that rushed to meet them. Teana hopped out, switching Cross Mirage to a pistol and a sword. She carved her way through the Covenant, beheading a Brute and cracking a few Grunts' skulls. She soon reached the second battery, entering the code and grabbing another two-pack of launcher rockets.

"That's it!" Duvall called. "Batteries primed! Now let's get over to the east compound and fire those missiles!"

"Sergeant-Major, the Covvies are almost through my door!"

"Easy, Echo-3! That corvette is still up there!"

Teana hopped back in the passenger's seat, and Jess quickly drove the Warthog to the other end of the walkway, at the base of the stairs. A Spirit flew overhead, dropping off multiple Covenant troops at the upper stairs. Teana fired a rocket that killed a trio of Brute Captains just as they landed, and then reloaded her launcher. Duvall turned the big gun right, taking down a Ghost that was getting too close.

Jess and Teana hopped out, charging up the steps. A trio of Grunts and a Jackal Major went down, and a Brute Captain was killed by two fuel rod shots from Jess. At the top of the final set of stairs, a hammer-wielding Brute Chieftain leapt at them. Jess fired the fuel rod gun, the three shots draining the Chieftain's shields and wounding it. A sword strike from Teana finished it off. They hustled up the stairs, ducking to barely avoid a fuel rod shot from another Chieftain. Teana raised her launcher and fired, the round blowing the Brute in half.

"That's it!" Echo-2's pilot radioed. "They've breached the landing bay!"

"Copy that" Duvall replied. "It's now or never, Spartans."

Jess and Teana hurried through the door and reached the console, and Jess hit the vital button. The batteries were ready to fire.

"Missile defenses online" Duvall radioed. "All evac transports, you are cleared for takeoff! Repeat, you are cleared for takeoff! Go _now_!"

The corvette overhead received a nasty surprise as half a dozen heavy missiles flew up to meet it. They hit dead-on, and the ship began venting flames from two spots. It turned and began flying back deeper into the city, away from the starport. A trio of green ships took the opportunity and put the pedal to the metal, lifting off and flying off toward the city's outer borders.

"Civilian transports away!" the lead ship's pilot radioed. "You've saved a lotta lives today, Spartans!"

As Jess and Teana walked to the beach's edge, a staticy voice came into hearing over their comms. It was Kat.

"…you copy? Repeat: this is Noble-2. Noble-6, Noble-5, Noble-7, do you copy?"

"This is Six" Jess responded. "Seven's with me."

"We picked up your transponders about an hour ago, but could not risk open comms. Covenant have this city sealed tight. …We're getting nothing from Jorge." Teana's head lowered.

"He didn't make it" Jess replied. "Stayed behind to detonate the slipspace bomb after its timer got fried."

"…Understood" Kat's voice was bitter as she realized the futility of Jorge's sacrifice. "What's the situation at starport exit?"

"The last transports are away" Teana responded.

"Alright. We're bringing you to us." The comm. channel closed, and Jess tossed out a red flare, walking over to take a seat on a rock as he and Teana awaited their pick-up.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	9. New Alexandria

Here's Chapter 9.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Reach**

**New Alexandria, Eposz**

**August 23****rd****, 2552**

**Shortly after sunset**

The Pelican flew through the ruined city, passing by and between towers as the fires of burning buildings lit the night. Jess and Teana sat across from each other in the seats closest to the open rear door, looking out at the terrible spectacle. Jess shook his head, saddened by the destruction of such a beautiful city.

Soon, the dropship neared its destination: a landing pad currently holding a pair of Falcons and a Hornet. The two Spartans got to their feet, Jess holstering a DMR and an assault rifle. The Pelican slowed, and hovered just above the platform. As soon as the pilot saw his instruments inform him of the sudden slight decrease in weight that signaled the Spartans' departure, he took off again, starting his assignment to look for any surviving UNSC forces.

Carter walked up to join Jess & Teana, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders and walking them over to a waiting Falcon.

"Your reports will have to wait" he told them. "Covenant are jamming all comms to command. Kat needs your help running a counter-op."

He paused, and said "It's good to have you two back."

"Sorry we didn't all come" Jess replied.

"Make him proud." He patted Teana on the shoulder and then turned toward the other Falcon. The girl walked over to the nearby Hornet.

**Fly By Night**

"Put your wings back on, you two" Kat contacted them. "You're flying these birds."

Jess hopped in the Falcon's cockpit, flipping the switches to ready the craft for takeoff. Its rotors began to spin, and two marines climbed aboard, manning the port and starboard machinegun turrets. Nearby, the Hornet's VTOL jets came to life, Teana linking the craft's targeting reticles to her HUD. The two craft rose straight up about 200 feet, and then leveled off as Kat contacted them.

"The Covenant have deployed comm. jammers at the high-rises across the city. We can't hear Holland, and he can't hear us. When I find them, you hit them – _hard_."

Nearby, a burning skyscraper's supports gave way, and it collapsed, burning bits of metal and stone plummeting to the ground far below.

"Stand by," Kat reported. "One of our trooper squads went missing after the hospital got hit. I'll mark the location. Complete their mission, and take out that jammer."

A marker appeared on their HUDs, and the two Spartans started flying toward it. A curious Banshee got its wings blown off by a pair of rockets from the Hornet, and it plummeted to the streets. A barrage of chin-gun fire from the Falcon eliminated a Heavy Shade on a roof near the hospital, and one of the turret gunners took out a Grunt that tried to flee from next to the gun. The two craft then set down on the hospital landing pad, Jess & Teana hopping out and ordering the troopers to watch the ships. They entered through a sliding double-door, finding a pack of Grunts, all of them curled up and snoozing. Some knife-work quickly made their sleep permanent, and they then spotted the Engineer floating languidly in the center of the multi-leveled circular room, several panels on the spiky object it wore glowing violet; an overshield projector. A nod, and Jess opened fire with his assault rifle.

The floating alien seemed to come apart under the fire, its spiked metal harness plummeting to the ground. Down below, they could hear Grunts scream in alarm, chattering away as they looked everywhere for a target. A Jackal spotted the two Spartans up above, pointed at them and called out. A rifle shot from Teana silenced it, but the jig was up. The next few minutes were spent fighting through Grunts and Jackals to reach the bottom. At the base level, a Brute Captain armed with a needle rifle guarded the passage to their objective. Focused fire took it down quickly, and Jess dropped his near-exhausted assault rifle for the needle rifle and three clips for it. He shouldered his DMR and peered around the corner.

The hospital concourse was a tall, wide, long, slightly curving pathway. In the center, on a bridge, a pair of Brute Captains stood watch. Three low-rank Brutes were coming toward the Spartans. And at the other end of the room, a squad of marines engaged a trio of Brutes who were protected by another Engineer, the simian aliens guarding an odd-looking machine that had to be the jammer. Jess fired his DMR at the nearest Brute, and it toppled. The other went down via two bullets to the face courtesy of Teana. Jess then used his needle rifle, three shots each taking down the pair of Brute Captains on the bridge. The duo then ran up a ramp onto the bridge, Teana grabbing a dropped plasma repeater. By now the Engineer was in range, and she fired two three-round bursts from her device/rifle. The creature squealed and seemed to explode, and the faint violet glow surrounding the Brute trio guarding the jammer faded away. She switched to single-shot and shot one through the face. The second one got its skull ventilated by concentrated assault rifle fire from the four troopers, and the third tried to charge, only for one of the troopers to whip out a shotgun and blow its brains out as soon as it got close. Jess used his needle rifle to kill another Brute Captain below him, and the two Spartans then ran over to join the troopers. Jess hit a button on the jammer, and it exploded a few seconds later.

"Noble-2 to Nobles 6 & 7," Kat radioed, "I'm showing the hospital jammer offline. Nice work. As soon as you can, I need you back in the air. Wait… you've got incoming tangos!"

"We got jumpers!" a trooper cried, pointing at a quartet of Elite Rangers heading for the group. The first one came in for a landing 10 meters away and opened fire with its plasma repeater. Teana returned the favor, the rapid-fire blue bolts taking down a good portion of the Elite's shields. It tried to jet away, but Jess fired two DMR shots at its head. The first wore down the shields completely, and the second punched through its skull, and the dead Elite flew out of control into a wall. As the Spartans-led UNSC squad moved forward, two more Elites came up, one with a needle rifle and the other with a carbine. A shot from the latter killed one of the troopers, and as it tried to jet away Jess threw a plasma grenade at it. The grenade stuck to the Elite's hip, and went off as it was in midair, blowing the alien in half. Teana switched Cross Mirage to dual plasma-bolt mode, and she quickly brought the Elite carrying the needle rifle to its knees as plasma bolts ate their way through its shields and armor. A knife strike from Jess finished it off. The teen Spartan then charged the fourth Elite, dodging plasma bolts and switching Mirage's right pistol to Longsword Mode. She fired plasma bolts from Mirage's left-hand gun as she went, and when she got in close she dispelled her left gun, gripped the sword handle in both hands, and swung down, bisecting the Elite from head to waist. She then re-summoned her other pistol and switched back to Rifle Mode. Jess gave an appreciative whistle at her handiwork, and the two moved to the entrance to the tall circular room from earlier.

In it, a pair of red-armored Skirmishers stood at the top of the first set of stairs, and they were quickly killed by Jess' needle rifle. The concussion-rifle-wielding Elite Ultra was a bit more of a problem. It dodged a plasma grenade thrown by Teana, and fired two shots at her. The first struck her in the chest like a hammer, draining her shields by 60% and knocking her off her feet. The second one sailed clear over her, passing through where her head had been when she was standing a second ago. Jess opened fire with his DMR from the hip, firing as fast as the rifle would allow. The Elite's shields flickered but held, and the alien roared in indignation. As it prepared to charge him, it suddenly fell to the ground as Teana grabbed hold of its right ankle and yanked its foot out from under it. The troopers, by now having caught up, rushed in and poured assault rifle fire into the downed alien, quickly draining its shields and filling its chest with decidedly unhealthy little extra metal bits. The creature exhaled air from shredded lungs and died. One trooper helped the smaller Spartan to her feet, handing her Mirage, who she accepted with a nod of thanks.

The room clear, the two Spartans bid farewell and headed up the levels (Jess making sure to strip the two Skirmishers of needle rifle ammo). Quickly they reached the top and exited back outside, finding their aircraft still being guarded by the two troopers, who responded to the Spartans' return by getting back in the Falcon's turrets. Jess & Teana climbed back into the cockpits of their respective craft, and rose up several dozen meters. A Covenant ship roared by overhead, looking somewhat like a battlecruiser except a little smaller, and having only two downward-pointing 'fins' underneath the nose instead of four.

COVENANT _YERNO_-CLASS CRUISER – 1,500 meters

The ship took position over another portion of the city several kilometers away. A high, charging whine accompanied a buildup of light at a single point on the cruiser's underside, and then a red beam shot straight down from it, vaporizing a portion of the city and sending a surge of superheated plasma billowing out from the epicenter, consuming several buildings.

"Command:" a voice came over the radio, "this is Gunnery Sergeant Buck, 11th ODST, over."

"Copy, Gunnery-Sergeant" Kat replied. "Go ahead."

"Need escort on a classified op. Someone who can fly a tight formation."

"Solid copy. Noble-6 and Noble-7 will escort you."

A waypoint appeared on the two Spartans' visors, pointing to a high tower 315 meters west. They reached it quickly enough, and another Falcon rose from it, a pair of ODSTs manning its grenade-launcher turrets. The next five minutes were rather hectic, as Banshees appeared left and right, being shot out of the sky by rockets, bullets, and high-velocity grenades. Finally, after a 1200-meter journey, the escorted Falcon came to a landing atop a square-roofed building on the edge of the city.

"I appreciate the help, Spartans" Buck contacted them. "I'll see you in Hell…"

"Mayday! Mayday!" a panicky voice came over the radio. "7-Delta-1-9 to any UNSC forces!"

"What's your status, 1-9?" Kat replied.

"We found the jammer, but we're gettin' hit hard! Request immediate assistance! Sinoviet Center is-" the transmission cut off with a cry of pain.

"You still with me, 1-9? 7-Delta-1-9, do you copy?"

Silence.

"Six, Seven, I'm uploading coordinates now. Get to Sinoviet Center. Help those troopers if you can, but get that jammer offline either way."

On the flight, half a dozen Banshees caused various amounts of trouble. Thankfully, they didn't all show up at once, and they were dealt with. A Phantom got in their way as well, and Jess & Teana focused fire on the two fins that stuck out of the rear of the vessel. These turned out to be parts of the anti-grav generators, and a chain reaction disabled them; the dropship then dropped like a 300-ton rock, its occupants experiencing a brief several seconds of free-fall before their lives ended messily on impact with the ground. At the Sinoviet Center tower, a pair of Shades guarded the entrance; they were blown to scrap by a few salvos of missiles from Teana's Hornet. She then flew the craft in low, opening fire on the Grunts and Jackals massed on the stairs that led up into the tower proper. The stairs ran blue and purple with alien blood. Jess brought his Falcon in for a landing on the pad, while Teana parked her smaller Hornet at the base of the stairs.

They worked their way up the stairs, trying not to slip and fall on the gore, and soon reached the room, stopping in front of a holo-statue of a UNSC frigate. They both ducked for cover as a focus rifle opened up on them. After a few seconds, Teana ran to the right, drawing the Jackal marksman's fire and allowing Jess an opportunity to shoot it in the head with his DMR. At the top of the next set of stairs, a trio of low-rank Brutes awaited the two Spartans. One was taken down before it could draw its red plasma rifle, but the other two opened fire with their Spikers. Teana stuck a plasma grenade to one of them, nailing its chest and vaporizing a sizeable portion of its torso. The other one got three needles to the face that promptly made its head asplode. A Brute Captain at the top of the last, winding set of stairs fired its concussion rifle down at the Spartans, but the Spartans dodged the shots due to the distance. Jess fired two needle rifle rounds, but the Brute locked down its armor, the shots ricocheting off the crackling white field of the crouched Brute. As soon as it unlocked its armor, three needle rifle shots quickly buried themselves into its neck before it could respond, decapitating it. 

"Noble-6, Noble-7," Kat contacted them, "I'm still getting nothing from those troopers. You may have to deal with the jammer yourselves."

They made their way up the stairs, soon reaching a pair of elevators. They got in one, hitting the button, and jazz music played over the speakers during their brief trip up. They reached their destination, to find dead army troopers all over the place, the wooden floor stained with red blood. They walked through the grisly and eerily silent floor, soon finding the jammer. Teana hit the button, and the jammer folded up, whined, and exploded. As they made their way out, however, a buzzing sound could be heard.

"It's a trap!" Teana shouted, and the two Spartans legged it through the corridors, dodging plasma fire from a dozen angry Drones. They reached the elevator, Jess punching in the 'face' of a Drone that tried to join them, and rode down to the opening floor. They hopped down the levels and stairs, reaching their parked aircraft and hopping in, soon getting a few hundred feet up. Overhead, another Covenant cruiser roared past, taking position a few kilometers away. The earlier spectacle was repeated, only this time is was louder and brighter due to the ship's closeness. A strong wind – the shockwave of the blast –made the Spartans have to briefly wrestle with the control sticks, but quickly died down.

"Six, Seven," Kat radioed, "we're getting reports of Elites and Engineers trying to break into the Misriah Complex. Take them out."

It was a short and, mercifully, uninterrupted flight to a nondescript building with MISRIAH printed on the side in 10-foot-tall letters. On the roof, a quartet of Elites fumbled with a door, having failed to brute-force their way through, as two Engineers floated nearby. A barrage of rockets from Teana's Hornet sent them to the afterlife.

"4-Charlie-2-7 to Command" a man's voice said over the radio. "Request immediate assistance."

"Go ahead, 2-7" Kat replied.

"We're at the Vyrant Telecom tower! Got Hunters between us and the jammer!"

"Copy, 2-7; help is on the way. Six, Seven, I'm sending you coordinates for the Vyrant tower. Go get those troopers unstuck. This is the last jammer, guys; we're almost there."

To the Spartans' pleasant surprise, the NAV point highlighted a large tower that was right next to the one they currently hovered over, and it took them only five seconds to reach it. The landing pad and the exterior entrance were highlighted in neon light, and a pair of FRG Shades opened up on the two craft. They dodged to and fro, returning fire with their machineguns until the turrets were scrap. Jess' Falcon flew into the alcove, and his turret gunners opened up on the Covenant foot soldiers up-close. When the area was clear, he flew back out a little and landed on the helipad, while Teana again landed her smaller craft closer to the door. The two Spartans passed through two sets of sliding doors, and reached a large, open area. It was a club, with a spacious dance floor on the lower level, overlooked by a DJ booth. At the top of a set of ramps across the room sat the Covenant comm.-jamming device. Two Hunters stood guard at the tops of the ramps leading up to it, and down on the bottom floor another pair traded fire with a trooper fireteam hunkered down behind some tables and columns. Fitting for a dance club, the Hunters occasionally shuffled back and forth to try and get a better angle, inadvertently dancing to a faint techno beat playing over the speakers.

Jess headed for a balcony on the left, pulled out his needle rifle, and focused on the small spot of exposed orange on a Hunter's back. He opened fire, and the first three needles embedded in the Hunter's flesh. The blast blew off the massive alien's back armor, exposing its 'spine'. Two more three-needle blasts brought the beast down. The other Hunter was too preoccupied with shooting at the humans to notice its bond-brother's fate, and quickly fell to the same attack. The other two, however, had seen Jess' actions, and fired a pair of explosive incendiary capsules at the two Spartans. One bolt hit where Jess had been, melting the waist-height glass barricade. The other sailed over Teana's head by about six feet, the energy bleed causing a barely-noticeable decrease in her shields. Realizing that the same trick wouldn't work again, Jess leapt down to the bottom, Teana following half a second later. Jess ran to the center of the dance floor, finding a dead trooper lying next to a rocket launcher. He picked up the launcher and used the bullfighting method to get behind the nearest Hunter, blasting it in the back. Against all odds, the alien survived, but its component Lekgolo were starting to unravel. Another shot quickened the process, and burnt pieces eel-worm things littered the floor. Teana charged the other Hunter, switching Cross Mirage to Longsword Mode. She rolled underneath a horizontal shield swipe, got to her feet, and swung sideways with all her might. She was rewarded with her foe falling to the ground in two pieces. The upper half tried to raise its cannon, and she responded by jamming a frag grenade in its 'face', rolling away to avoid the blast.

"Thanks, Spartans" the relieved fireteam leader said, "we were almost out of ammo. Jammer's on the upper level."

Jess walked up the ramps, reaching the jammer and permanently disabling it.

"Well done, Spartans" Kat said over the radio. "Head back to your birds and await further orders."

The duo exited the nightclub, walking over to their air vehicles.

**Last One Out… Turn Out The Lights**

"Noble-2 to Noble Leader" Kat said over the TEAMCOM. "All jammers are down."

"Solid copy, Noble-2" Carter's voice replied. "New orders: all personnel are to be evacuated from ONI HQ. Say confirm?"

"Confirm, ONI tower evac-"

A sudden burst of static and a grunt of pain interrupted the broadcast.

"Noble-2!" Carter shouted. "Noble-2! Sitrep!"

"Covvies are hitting the HQ in force! They must've zeroed my signal!"

"Get that evac started!"

"Roger that! Noble-6, Noble-7, get over here and cover our evac Pelicans! I need you overhead _now_!"

A waypoint marker highlighted Olympic Tower, 1,200 meters away, and the two aircraft sped there with great haste. Aside from a lone Banshee, the path was clear. They soon saw why: all the Banshees in the area were attacking the tower, along with a quartet of Phantoms. A trio of Banshees spotted the newcomers and broke off to attack them. They were scrapped before their pilots could even blink.

"Command, this is Whiskey-35" a Pelican pilot radioed. "I've got eyes on six long-range Shade turrets in the vicinity of the ONI tower. They're makin' life pretty hard on our evac birds."

"Copy, Whiskey-35" Kat responded. "Six, Seven, take out those Heavy Shade turrets."

The two craft flew in, guns blazing, shooting down two Banshees flying guard over a Heavy Shade. Two pairs of rockets from the Hornet scrapped the turret. The pair moved on, dodging shots, and Teana's Hornet covered Jess' Falcon as it descended a little and blasted a Heavy Shade on a lower rooftop.

"Whiskey-35, you are cleared to proceed with evac" Kat radioed, and one of the three Pelicans awaiting takeoff from the tower flew off into the night, shooting down a Banshee as it went. The Falcon and the Hornet continued on, and got bogged down by Banshees for a bit. As they engaged the hostiles trying to slag them, Kat radioed in.

"Noble, we need that evac path cleared. Shade turrets are priority one."

"No offense, ma'am," Jess replied, "but I think 'priority one' is making sure we don't get blown out of the sky by the swarm of Banshees guarding the turrets before we can take out the turrets."

Another minute in, and two more Heavy Shades were gone, and Whiskey-36 completed its escape. A bit more aerial skirmishing, and the last two Heavy Shades were gone. Whiskey-37 flew off into the night, and the Covenant air forces fell back, vacating the airspace around the tower.

"Excellent work, you two" Kat contacted them. "I'm extending a landing platform. Come home, guys."

Jess & Teana brought their flyers in to a landing pad that extended from the side of the building.

**-**_**SCENE CHANGE**_**-**

"Look at this place" Jun sighed as he peered through his binoculars at the devastation. "Used to be the crown jewel. Not anymore. He then noticed the two red-armored Spartans walking in. "Hey! You made it!"

"It's a regular family reunion…" a rather depressed-sounding Emile said. Teana reached for Jorge's tags, but Emile stopped her. "Keep them. You were closest to him, and he gave 'em to you. I'll honor him my own way."

"Jorge always said he'd never leave Reach…" Jun said wistfully.

Emile chuckled. "Yeah, the big man _was _sentimental…"

"He gave his life thinking he'd just saved the planet" Carter replied as walked over to the window. "We should all be so lucky."

"Sir," Jun turned to Carter, "is it true about Gauntlet, Red, and Echo Teams being assigned to civilian evac ops?"

Carter turned to Kat. "Those are senior-level communiqués."

"I hear what I hear" she responded. "Point is, why put Spartans on defensive deployment?"

"I need that link to SATCOM, Kat."

"Chasing it, but this console has more shrapnel in it than transceivers. …You didn't answer my question."

"You want to know if we're losing?"

"I _know _we're losing. I want to know if we've _lost_."

There was an uncomfortable silence for several seconds, which was interrupted by a series of beeps.

"Colonel Holland" Kat said with surprise. "Hailing us! What's he doing on an open channel?"

"Let's hear it" Carter replied as he walked over to her. Static resolved into the voice of their CO. "…in the southwest quadrant of the city, over? Sierra-2-5-9, if you are receiving, I am authorizing override of radio security protocols to link with this channel."

"How long for a secure link?" Carter asked.

"Can't guarantee secure anymore" Kat replied.

"Could the Covenant trace it to us?"

"_I _could…"

"Noble-Leader, this is a Priority One hail. If you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."

Kat picked up the communicator, handing it to Carter. "Keep it brief."

As Carter conversed with the Colonel, Jun snapped to attention as something caught his eye. "We've got movement. Multiple Covenant vehicles vacating the area… and they're in a hurry."

"Got a bad feeling about this" Teana muttered. Considering what happened the last time she said this, the others were on edge.

"Radiation flare!" Kat announced. "Big! 40 million roentgens!"

"I just lost Holland" Carter turned to her. "What's goin' on?"

"Atomic excitement scrambled the signal. 90 million now!"

"Source?"

"Airborne. Close!"

"How close?

Less than 1,000 meters away, a pillar of red light shot down from the sky. A massive shockwave hit, shattering the windows and knocking everyone off their feet. "_That _close!"

The team rushed to the two waiting elevators; Carter, Emile, and Jun got in one, while Kat, Jess, & Teana entered the other. As the doors closed, Kat went for the button, but missed, her vision still flashing from the blast. She tried again, and the elevator began to descend.

"First glassing?" she asked as she looked at the other two while donning her helmet. "Me too. Don't worry; I'm on it. Our best option is a fallout bunker in Sublevel 2, 96 meters northeast. We get orders from Holland, sir?"

"We're being redeployed to Sword Base" Carter replied.

"Sword?" Jun exclaimed. "The Covenant own it now!"

"Which is why they want us for a torch-and-burn op; keep Doctor Halsey's excavation data from falling into enemy hands."

"If it hasn't already" Kat replied, as the first elevator reached the bottom, Carter, Emile, & Jun rushing out and across the destroyed room toward the bunker. Behind them, the second elevator opened, and its three occupants followed close behind, Kat leading.

"Maybe," Carter said, "but according to Holland, the Covenant are still hunting for something."

"Where does he get off calling a demolition op Priority O-"

A thin particle beam shot down from above, fired from a hovering Phantom's open side door. It hit the back top of Kat's helmet and exited through her lower jaw. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"_Kat!_"

The Spartans immediately turned their rifles on the Phantom, opening fire in the hopes of revenge as Jess & Teana dragged Kat's limp form into the bunker. The Phantom escaped, the shooter unharmed. Teana frantically checked her fallen sister, but when she got a closer look her heart sank, and tears welled up in her eyes. All the while, the civilians panicked.

"Close the door! Faster!"

"What's happening?"

"The Spartan's dead! They lied! They said Spartans didn't die! They said Reach was safe! They lied! We're all gonna die!"

"Mommy!'

"I'm here, baby. It's okay. It's okay."

As the Phantom flew off into the night, the elite Kig-Yar mercenary marksman known as Yik the Man-Slayer used his knife to carve another little notch in his beam rifle's barrel, congratulating himself on a most prestigious kill.

**-**_**CHAPTE END**_**-**


	10. The Package

Here's Chapter 10.

How come whenever I put a question mark followed by an exclamation point ("Sword?" Jun exclaimed) or two exclamation marks in a row ("We're all gonna die!"), when it comes up on the site, it changes it to just a question mark (undermining the urgency/drama) and a single exclamation point (again, downplays the drama/emotion/volume)?

And if anyone notices a bit of curb-stomping in this fic, remember: the humans usually win ground engagements against the Covenant. It's in space where the UNSC nearly always gets its ass royally kicked.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Reach**

**Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf (now melted/vaporized), Eposz**

**August 29****th****, 2552**

The sky was red, and was filled with the sounds of distant combat. The angular form of Sword Base stood, a shadow of its former glory, large pieces missing and smoke billowing from the holes. The ground, once green with life, was a dull reddish-brown, blasted and cracked, and dust was stirred about by the hot winds. The past week had been Hell. The UNSC had put up more of a fight than ever before. Even Reach itself seemed to come to their aid; a hurricane had battered Covenant ships, as tornadoes tore through alien armored columns. A Covenant corvette stupid enough to park directly over a volcano had gotten blasted by a geological cannon of superheated rock and ash, taking it down. Everyone and everything pitched in, but it wasn't enough. Humanity was losing. And Reach was dying.

"Noble-1, this is Noble-Actual" Col. Holland's voice came over the radio. "Noble-1?"

"Go ahead" Carter replied.

"We need that base taken out, son. What's your status?"

"Still outside. Thermal on the interior shows standing-room only. We've gotta clear them out or we'll be way too popular."

"Copy that, Noble-1. Holland out."

Jess and Teana leapt over a rock, meeting a trio of ODSTs. "Six, Seven," Carter contacted them, "are you two in position?"

"Affirmative" Jess replied.

"Good. Execute."

**Torch and Burn**

The team of five approached the rock edge, looking across the shallow water at the battered building of Farragut Station. A Shade sat atop its roof, another was a few hundred feet to the right, and behind the building was a deployable Covenant lookout tower.

"The Covenant own this sector now," Carter radioed, "but they're defending for a major strike, not a small-group infiltration. Eliminate all hostile anti-air defenses so the rest of Noble can land at Sword Base for the torch-and-burn. Keep a low profile; if we take 'em by surprise, this will be a hell of a lot easier."

Jess shouldered his DMR, and picked his target. It was outside the targeting reticle's red-zone, but he knew it would still hit. The Jackal sniper on the lookout tower collapsed, a hole blown through its neck. Three-fourths of a second later, the Grunt manning the rooftop Shade keeled over in its seat, a bullet having blown through its brain. Teana calculated trajectory, aimed, and fired a 40mm grenade at the other turret. The high-speed cylinder beaned the gunner in the head and detonated a split-second later; blue blood splattered across the gun's controls. The two Spartans leapt into the water and sprinted across, the ODSTs following close behind. They quickly reached the building, setting up in it just in time for a pack of Grunts to come over the hill, the leader carrying a fuel rod gun. A trooper used his BR55 rifle to shoot a spare fuel rod pack hanging from the Grunt's waist, and a green explosion consumed the alien and its weapon. The other Grunts panicked at this, and were quickly cut down. An explosion hammered into the side of the building, as another FRG-carrying Grunt near the far turret opened up. Jess ran out and shot it in the neck with his DMR, killing it. The coast was clear, and Jess rode the grav-lift into the tower, grabbing the focus rifle he found before hopping back down to join the others.

"Kat was right" Emile said over the TEAMCOM. "This _does _seem like overkill, sending us out here for a simple demo op."

"ONI thinks it's worth it" Jun replied. "That should tell you somethin'."

"It tells me things ain't so simple."

The squad moved through a pathway, and soon spotted something that lifted their spirits a little: hidden behind a boulder was an M808B 'Scorpion' Main Battle Tank, undamaged and ready for action. Jess hopped in the driver's seat, pulling the hatch down. Teana climbed aboard and got in the machinegun turret cupola, and the ODSTs perched themselves on the treads. The tank came to life, its engine growling and rumbling, and the 66-ton war machine rolled out from its hiding spot. Immediately, plasma bolts impacted it, the heavy ceramic-titanium armor shrugging off the blows. The turret swiveled right, and fired. A deafening bang sounded (the five occupants' hearing protected by their helmets' systems), and a Covenant lookout tower fell to the ground in pieces. The tank rounded a boulder, blasting a Shade turret and another lookout tower. A Ghost up ahead opened fire, but the Grunt pilot missed his shots; Jess' return shot, however, did not, slagging the vehicle and sending shrapnel flying in all directions, one piece killing another Grunt behind a nearby rock. The Scorpion moved up a little, and Teana fired the machinegun turret at an Elite, cutting it down, as the ODSTs opened fire on the Grunts. From the next slops came a Ghost, which was blown to scrap by the Scorpion's gun. Then another Ghost, and another, both meeting the same fate. The Scorpion rolled up the rocky slope, a part of a Ghost crunching beneath its treads.

Around the next corner, the first of two Covenant 'Tyrant' AA guns stood, occasionally firing a three-round burst off into the distance. At this range and this angle, it was no problem. Jess opened fire with the Scorpion's cannon, aiming for the glowing rear of the AA gun. After seven shots, the AA gun's alarm began to sound, and several seconds later it exploded. The tank moved up and hung a right around the boulder, the second AA gun now in range. A 90mm explosive shell obliterated a quartet of Jackals, and Teana poured MG fire into an approaching Ghost, hitting something vital. The hover-sled dropped to the ground, a low whine accompanying the failing engine, and a short burst killed the Grunt who'd been driving it. A squadron of six Banshees flew past, and two of them broke off to engage the tank. A well-aimed cannon-shot blew one out of the sky, and the second one's pilot panicked and fired a fuel rod bolt. The shot missed by a large degree, and Teana returned fire with the MG, hitting a fuel cell. The craft went up in a ball of blue flame. The tank then turned its attention to the other gun and fired several times, and the gun responded by going up in gouts of flame. It was at this point that Jess & Teana recognized the current area as the site of the UNSC anti-air gun they'd activated way back during the first battle around Sword Base.

"Nice job, you two" Carter radioed. "Falcons, commence descent. We'll meet you inside the base." A pair of Falcons flew overhead, one of them – containing the rest of Noble Team – firing grenades at the few Covenant who'd survived the guns' explosions. The other, carrying machinegun turrets, opened up on a quarter of Banshees, and Jess lent the Scorpion's fire to the cause, bringing the flyers down. He moved on, steering around boulders and Banshee bits, reaching a slightly curved path and firing at a Covenant lookout tower, bringing it down in two hits.

"This is Noble Team" Carter radioed. "Falcons have landed; hostiles engaged. Jun's working on getting the gate open."

"Really missing Kat right about now…" Jun said.

A trio of Ghosts came one-by-one over a small hill, each being slagged by the Scorpion's gun before their hapless Grunt pilots could finish processing just what they were up against (they had been expecting foot soldiers, maybe a Warthog, _not _a huge tank). The tank rolled on through, soon encountering the area just outside Sword Base. A flock of Falcons and Hornets were engaged with a trio of Revenants, a few Banshees, and four Shade turrets – two plasma and two fuel-rod. A Scorpion shell destroyed the nearest FRG Shade, and another scrapped the closest Revenant. Jess rolled the vehicle forward a bit, looking left and up to blast the other FRG Shade, as Teana fired to the right at a nearby plasma Shade, killing its operator and ruining its gun barrels. Another tank shot destroyed a Revenant up ahead, while a Hornet scored a few missile strikes on the last plasma shade, taking it out of commission. The Scorpion began to roll up the final slope, and the third Revenant slid into view. Jess reacted faster than the Covenant mini-tank's pilot did, and the bulbous red craft erupted into flames, allowing the Scorpion to roll uncontested up to the gate. After several seconds of Banshee-blasting, the gate opened with a series of _clanks_. Jess and Teana hopped out of the tank, and one of the ODSTs took Jess' place in the driver's seat, another hopping into the turret. The tank reversed, spun around, and drove back down, seeking to do some good elsewhere. The two red-armored Spartans ran through the gate and headed up the paved slope.

**Latchkey**

"Tangos!" Emile's voice shouted. "Comin' over the pad!'

"Head for the garage!" Jun said

"Double-time it, you two!" Carter ordered to Jess & Teana. "Come on!"

The two reached the top, Jess readying the focus rifle. Teana raced ahead of him, tackling a blue-armored Elite from behind and knocking it to the floor. She picked up a jagged shard of metal from the ground nearby and drove it into and through the alien's neck. The red-armored Elite a little ways away spotted this and roared, only to be interrupted by the beam of the focus rifle burning through its shields and then its chest. Jess readied his DMR and starting shooting the Grunts, now panicking without their leaders, as Teana switched Mirage to rifle mode full-auto, killing the two Grunts manning plasma turrets at the entrance to the garage nearby. Several meters away, Emile fired a shotgun point-blank into an Elite's chest, overloading its shields and shredding its hearts and lungs. Carter tossed a grenade amongst a small pack of Jackals, and the four avian aliens were ripped apart. Jun put down a Grunt with a rifle butt to the skull. They then spotted Jess & Teana and ran over to join them. Noble Team then descended the ramps, Jess topping to rip a plasma turret from its hinges and take it with him. Carter fiddled with the elevator, to no avail.

"We'll have to go through maintenance" he said. "Elevator's out."

"The way this place been done," Emile replied, "we're lucky anything still works."

They entered a side door, Jess leading with his plasma turret, and walked up a ramp. To the right was a multi-level room with a catwalk that rounded its way up to the top. The path was crawling with Jackals. Jess opened fire on the nearest two, cutting them down with the plasma turret; even though the turret could easily wear through their shields, he knew he only had 200 shots in the gun, so he used his hand-then-head method to great effect, using only 11 shots. Carter and Teana each shot one of the two Jackal marksmen further up, and the team moved on. The next four or so minutes were spent working their way past Jackals, and by the time they reached the top Jess' plasma turret was down to 68 rounds. They entered the hallway that led to the office buildings, now lit red by emergency lights. They rounded the corner and neared the next door.

"Where're we going now, boss?" Jun asked.

"Dot?"

"Please proceed to the prearranged coordinates" was the AI's reply.

"Cryptic…" Emile scoffed.

"You know as much as I do, Noble-4" she said, as the door opened.

At the far end hovered an Engineer, which Jess shot down on instinct. On cue, a quartet of ripples in the air moved… and opened fire. Jess' plasma turret took down three of the cloaked Elites, exhausting its power in the process. He dropped the useless gun as Teana opened up at a shimmer in the air. She was rewarded by the last Elite growling and flaring into visibility, and massed fire from the five Spartans quickly brought it down. At the top of a ramp on the other end of the room, an Elite General stepped into view, holding a concussion rifle. Jess zoomed in and blasted it with the focus rifle, stunning it. The shields gave just as the focus rifle stopped to vent excess heat, and a rifle shot from Carter killed the ornate-armored alien. The five Spartans made their way up the ramp, Emile taking point, and followed their coordinates to a door. Jess hit the switch, and the door opened to reveal a squad of dead army troopers, lying amongst hundreds of spent shell casings. Dead Covenant were piled up near another door.

"Looks like they got themselves cornered" Jun remarked.

"Or were committed to the position" Carter added.

Emile walked forward, stepping into a dead-end hall. "I'm goin' with cornered" he said. "There's nothing here."

"No load-bearing columns, either" Jun continued. "Sir, if we're supposed to blow this place, this ain't the spot to do it from."

"Dot, check your vector" Carter ordered as he accessed his TACPAD.

"Vector confirmed, Commander" Dot replied. "We are precisely where ONI has directed-" she stopped, and then spoke again. "Apologies. Coordinates revised. Please confirm?"

"Revised?"

"By an AI of unknown origin, whose clearance is well above my own."

"Well," Jun said, "it's pointing us a klick and a half east and 2,000 feet underground."

"I didn't bring my shovel, Commander" Emile snarked.

"Sir," Jun continued, now sounding annoyed, "I say we go AI-free on this one. Obviously, these coordinates are junk, and the longer we go chasing them-"

He was cut off by a sudden grinding noise. Everyone raised their weapons, pointing toward a wall that was now sliding sideways, revealing a hidden passageway.

"What is this, Dot?"

"Our revised route, Commander."

Teana stared for a few seconds, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, why the hell not…"

"Alright" Carter sighed. "We came this far…"

The group passed through, staying alert as the sliding wall/door sealed behind them. They came upon a tram, cautiously stepping in.

"Your new AI friend tell you anything else, Dot?" Carter asked. "…Dot?"

"…She's been expecting you" was Dot's reply, as the doors slid shut and the tram began to move.

"That's _perfect_…" Emile sighed.

Suddenly, a holo-screen snapped into vision on the forward window. In it was a familiar face, and the Spartans felt surprise at seeing this person alive.

"Apologies for the unusual security measures, Commander," Dr. Halsey said, "but the stakes demand it."

"Dr. Halsey?" Carter was a little shocked. "Casualty reports have you listed as-"

"Yes, well," she interrupted, "news of my death has been exaggerated. I only wish the same could be said for Jorge and Katherine."

"We all do, ma'am."

"It may please you to know that the data module Noble-2 procured from Visegrád Relay contained precisely what Dr. Sorvad promised: a latchkey discovery. It has unlocked, at last, the secrets of this excavation."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Your orders were a pretext to bring you to me, and have been overridden. You are here, Team Noble, to ensure the delivery of this vital data to a secure location."

"Doctor, our orders were to destroy any sensitive-"

"Others were handle the demolition."

"I'll need to confirm this new directive with Command."

"Colonel Holland will be briefed soon. You belong to ONI now."

The tram finally descended, and the Spartans stared in wonder. It was a massive cave, snow and ice mingled with UNSC structures, and a truly gigantic structure sat in the distance.

"Before you," Dr. Halsey explained, "is an alien artifact neither human nor Covenant in origin, advanced beyond our comprehension… until now. Thanks to Noble-2, the decryption of its data is nearly complete."

Attention was drawn to a few huge chunks of ice and rock tumbling from the ceiling in the distance, and a Covenant dropship could just barely be seen descending through the hole.

"Whatever we're doin' down here," Emile said, "we better do it quick."

"Have your data ready, ma'am" Carter radioed. "We're coming to you."

"The decryption process is still underway."

"I don't think you understand. The Covenant are here; we're out of time. If it isn't portable by the time we reach you, it's gonna get buried."

"Bury any of it, and you bury mankind's best chance of survival! …Commander, you've been wondering what your Spartans died for? It was for this. Please… I beg you: buy me all the time that you can."

The tram came to a stop, and the Spartans filed out, looking around.

**This Cave Is Not A Natural Formation**

The group moved down a slope, following a waypoint.

"Commander," Jun said, "I'm seeing turrets already in defensive positions."

"ONI was expecting company?" Emile asked.

"They sure as hell got it" Carter replied, noticing the Phantoms getting closer. "Doctor, we have hostiles inbound."

As they passed a turret, a man's voice came over the radio. They recognized Sword Control. "Noble Team, there are four defense turrets to assist you in defending the lab. Get them online, and quick! When the turrets take too much damage, they'll shut down to recharge and auto-repair. You'll need to reactivate them when they come back online."

Jess activated the nearby turret. As they rushed to the entrance of the lab, Jess headed for a Mongoose, hopping in and driving off to the next turret. Teana, though, had a better idea. Rushing over to the grenade launcher sitting on a rack, she aimed up at the incoming Banshee and fired an EMP round. The Banshee plummeted down, landing less than 10 feet from her. She pried the cockpit open, kicked out the Elite pilot, and took off. She headed over to the outside turrets, strafing the Grunts passing them, and quickly got both of them online, heading up as they opened fire on the Covenant nearby. Jess drove back to the door, stocking up on DMR ammo and grabbing a shotgun. The Covenant forces – Jackals and Grunts – were whittled down by the turrets and by Teana's Banshee, so very few reached the ramp leading to the lab, and were quickly cut down by the four Spartans standing guard at it. Two packs of Brutes started working their way up the snowy slopes. Teana took out one with a fuel rod shot, and the other was distracted by a turret long enough for Emile to ride up in a Mongoose, leap out, slaughter the lot of them with his shotgun, and quickly drive back to the lab entrance. Teana used her Banshee's plasma guns to take out some more Grunts, and then engaged in a brief dogfight with a hostile Banshee, blowing the craft's right wing off and leaving it unable to make any horizontal movements other than a constant right turn. She blasted it with a fuel-rod shot, and it came apart and fell to the ground.

A second wave of Phantoms came in, one of them depositing a Wraith across the bridge, on the other side of the area. Teana immediately set to fuel-rod-bombing it, and after four direct hits from the green projectiles it exploded. She turned her attention to the gate, where the team was fighting off a large pack of angry Brutes and Skirmishers. She boosted in and blew half the enemy forces to hell with two fuel-rod shots, and then u-turned and shot the turret off of a Model-B Phantom. The now-harmless dropship beat a hasty retreat. Jun sniped a Brute Captain through the eye, and then shot a gold-armored Skirmisher straight through the center of the neck; the force of the supersonic bullet hitting such a thin target tore the bird-like alien's head off. Emile used his shotgun as a club to cave a Jackal's skull in, and then drop-kicked a Skirmisher, which was finished off by a rifle shot from Carter. Jess threw a plasma grenade, and it stuck to a running Skirmisher. The alien's momentum carried it into three of its fellows just as the explosive went off, killing all four of them.

After half a minute of peace, in which the Spartans rearmed and reloaded while Teana flew her Banshee in lazy circles above the complex, a third wave of Phantoms flew in, dropping off a team of Elite Rangers and three squads of Elite-led Grunts, along with a pair of Ghosts. Jess used a Spartan Laser found near the door to blow one of the Ghosts to kingdom come, and Teana managed to hit the driver of the second dead-on while dive-bombing it. Another Grunt tried to hop in the damaged Ghost's pilot seat, but by this time Teana had circled around and fired a few plasma shots at the circular tank on the craft's right side, and the Ghost exploded violently. A squad of Grunts was cut down by one of the turrets, but the red-armored Elite made it through and charged the Spartans. Jess jumped out from behind a rock and blindsided the Elite with his shotgun, blowing the alien's arm off. Another shot splattered its head. Teana fired a fuel-rod shot at a briefly-grounded pair of Elite Rangers, killing them both, and then got to work on shooting the other Rangers out of the sky. Once she was done with that, she turned her attention to another hostile Banshee flying higher up, and hit it in the underside with a fuel-rod shot, destroying it. Quickly, the rest of the alien forces were dead.

"I'm almost done, Spartans" Halsey radioed. "Just a little more."

A final three Phantoms flew in. One, a Type-C, fired its plasma turrets at Teana's Banshee, heavily damaging both wings. She flew her crippled craft to the team's location and bailed out, setting up defensive position with them in preparation for the coming assault. The first Phantom deployed a Wraith at the other side of the area, the second came in behind and deployed another one and some Jackals, and the third came in right at the base of the ramp, dropping a team of Elites. Jun used the Spartan Rifle to gut the distant Wraith, and the team opened fire on the squad of Elites. Teana fired a grenade at the Jackals rounding the nearby corner, killing them all, and Carter & Emile picked off Elites one by one. An Elite Field-Master charged up the ramp, brandishing a plasma sword, its shields shrugging off bullets. Jun shot it with the Spartan Laser, burning a dinner-plate-sized hole through the alien's chest.

"Well done, Spartans" Dr. Halsey's voice finally came over the radio. "I'm opening the laboratory door."

After killing the stragglers and humorously luring the remaining Wraith into boosting right over a ledge, the team walked up to the gate, and Jess hit the button. The door slid open, and Noble walked in, the door sealing shut behind them as they progressed. After passing through a tunnel carved from ice, they reached a wide-open room. In the center was a huge glowing sphere; symbols and waves of light raced across its surface, and beams of… something… ran between it and the walls.

"What is all this?" Jun asked.

"Knowledge" Dr. Halsey replied, moving back and forth between consoles. "A birthright from an ancient civilization. This AI is its custodian, and she has chosen _you _as her couriers."

"Chosen?" Emile asked, a little skeptical. "By an AI?"

"By _this_ AI, yes. Her measure of you carries as much weight as my own. Perhaps more."

On a holo-console, surrounded by a transparent sphere of data, stood a female-form violet-colored AI. "Cortana?" Teana asked.

"A fragment of her" Halsey replied. "You all are to take her to the UNSC ship-breaking yards in Aszod. There, you will find a _Halcyon_-class cruiser holding the original Cortana, waiting for this vital data to be brought to her and to get her off-planet."

"I understand" Carter said.

"Do you?" she looked to him. "Humankind is outmatched. When Reach falls – and it _will _fall – our annihilation is all but certain. Unless, we can gleam from this artifact a defense against the Covenant; a game-changer, on the level of the conical bullet in the 19th century, or faster-than-light travel in the 23rd."

"And what if we can't?"

"An apt question, if there were somewhere else to place our hope. There is not."

She pressed a button, and the Cortana fragment's avatar disappeared. Halsey reached down and pulled free a cylindrical container, carrying a glowing blue chip. She walks over to the team, heading toward Jess…

…and walks past him.

"Take her, Lanstar. She has made her choice."

**-**_**SCENE SHIFT**_**-**

The group exited a tunnel, to find two Pelicans waiting on a landing pad.

"Dr. Halsey," Carter said, "Noble-3 will escort you to Castle Base."

"I require no escort, Commander" she replied.

"Jun," he turned to his sniper, "make sure _nothing _falls into enemy hands."

"I'll do whatever's necessary, Commander. …Good luck."

"You too, rifleman."

Carter walked over and climbed aboard the right Pelican, walking in and sitting in the pilot's seat. He started up the engines as Teana & Jess got onboard behind him, taking seats in the troop bay. Emile sat on the edge, sitting on the edge of the loading ramp.

"I need a heading, Dot" he requested.

"At three kilometers north, turn right; heading 050."

"Which leads to?"

"The ship-breaking yard in Aszod, the only off-planet extraction point left on this continent. Small-scale air attacks have decimated many convoys en route. An armada of Covenant ships is hastening to the site as well. UNSC cruiser _Pillar of Autumn _is awaiting your arrival.

"Wouldn't be a Noble mission if it were easy."

As the two dropships flew off in different directions, the ground bulged upward. The explosion did its intended job, scouring Sword Base's underground clean of anything the Covenant came to find. The ground caved in, and the surrounding water rushed in to flood the caverns.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	11. Pillar of Autumn

Here's Chapter 11

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Reach**

**Aszod, Eposz**

**August 30****th****, 2552**

"Noble Leader, seek immediate medical attention."

The Pelican flew through the canyon, flames streaming from its forward starboard engine. A pair of Banshees pursued it, shooting plasma bolts at it, and a Phantom followed them.

"Noble-1, please respond."

Jess & Teana made their way toward the cockpit to check on Carter, and stumbled as the ship lurched, a plasma bolt striking Jess and making his shields flare. Emile aimed, and fired an EMP grenade. The crippled Banshee tumbled through the air and smashed into its wingman, taking both comrades down.

"Please respond, Sierra-2-5-9. You are alarming me."

Carter tossed his helmet aside, the blue thing landing to the side of the pilot's seat. His armor is charred, his face bloodied, and blood is splattered on the inside of the Pelican's forward windshield.

"Not sure how much longer she's gonna stay together" he said. "Skies are jammed up, anyway. Gotta get you guys off her."

"Sir," Teana muttered. "You-"

"Don't wanna hear it. Get the Package to the _Autumn_. Jess, you're her escort."

"…Done" Jess replied.

"Not yet, it's not. Emile, go with them; it's a ground game now."

"It's been an honor, sir" Emile said, as two more Banshees slid into view. Carter pulled free his dog-tags and handed them to Jess.

"Likewise. I'll do what I can to draw their fire. Seven… Tia… that AI chose you. …She made the right choice."

The three Spartans crouched near the rear exit of the Pelican, Teana protectively clutching the data storage unit to her torso.

"On my mark."

Carter held up a hand with three fingers. Two. One. "Mark!"

The three Spartans bailed out, sliding down a rock face. Their shields flared and failed, but their armor protected them. The dropship roared overhead, engine still in flames. They got to their feet, Teana securing the data storage unit (and making sure that Jun's dog-tags – given to her "just in case" – were secured along with Jorge's and Kat's), and the trio raced through a small canyon, leading to a rock edge overlooking a road and some Covenant. Overhead, Carter's damaged Pelican continued to fly, a pair of Banshees hounding it.

**Once More Unto The Breach**

"You still with us, Commander?" Emile radioed.

"Stay low" Carter replied. "Let _me _draw the heat. You just deliver that package." The Pelican shot off into the distance. A third Banshee that stupidly tried to attack from the direction the dropship was heading got shredded by the Pelican's chin-gun. The Elites piloting the other Banshees would've face-palmed at their comrade's reckless foolishness had their hands not been busy controlling their craft.

"There it is, guys," Emile pointed to a massive object in the distance. "The _Pillar of Autumn_. Race ya to her."

Jess and Emile started heading left, planning to work their way down the winding slope. Teana had other plans. Looking down at the small force of Covenant below, she took a few steps back, and then ran for the edge. The red-armored Elite never knew what hit him, as almost 500 pounds of armored Spartan came down hard on his back, slamming him into the ground and breaking his spine. Teana then pulled up Mirage in pistol mode, quickly downing the startled Grunts. Emile shook his head at his teammate's actions, though he had to admit it had been pretty cool. He tossed a grenade at the trio of red-shielded Jackals on the bridge, and the explosion and shrapnel shredded them. He and Jess leapt to the bottom, their shields absorbing the impact, and turned right to start killing more Grunts. Another Elite Major, this one carrying a concussion rifle, stepped out and opened fire. Two shots sailed over the Spartans' heads, and a third smacked Jess in the gut. He dived to the side, a faint, incessant beeping in his ears as the shield warning alerted him to the current status of 40% due to the combination of dropping 15 feet and then being hit by the plasma shell. After a few seconds, they recharged and the beeping stopped. Teana flanked left, passing under the bridge and catching the Elite by surprise. She opened fire with both pistols, quickly draining the Elite's shields and blasting three holes in its chest. It collapsed, and she ran over and grabbed the concussion rifle and an extra clip.

The trio moved on, reaching a small shack. Near it sat two Mongooses. Jess bent over and picked up a rocket launcher, and then headed inside the structure. He found two extra pairs of rockets, as well as a DMR. He exchanged his assault rifle for the marksman rifle, grabbing four extra clips of ammo. Loaded up, he headed outside and hopped on one of the Mongooses. Teana hopped in back, holding onto the handle with one hand and brandishing Mirage Pistol in the other. Emile got aboard the second Mongoose. The two ULATVs started up, and took off down the road, Jess' leading. They passed between two cliff walls, coming to another wide-open area. The road winded back and forth down the slope. They rode down, right then left, passing a few Covenant foot-soldiers.

And then a Scarab dropped in from high orbit, landing directly in their path.

The Mongooses (Mongeese?) drove underneath the massive four-legged walker, as Carter's Pelican flew overhead, distracting it. The two little vehicles drove on, passing Covenant drop-pods and another Scarab, Teana occasionally firing her pistol at some of the Grunts. Soon they got through the area, passing through a tunnel and hanging a left, going through another, shorter tunnel as a Phantom flew past.

"Bridge ahead is out, Six!" Emile pointed ahead. "We're gonna have to jump it!"

The two Mongooses (Mongeese?) hit the broken bridge, which acted like a ramp, launching them several meters into the air. They came back down hard on the other edge, the vehicles bouncing as their wheels absorbed the shock. They came to a stop and dismounted, and Jess grabbed a nearby Armor Lock module and equipped it.

**This Town Isn't Big Enough**

"Noble," Carter radioed, "enemy forces blocking the road ahead."

And then, as the trio hopped over a metal-and-stone barricade, another voice came over the comm.

"How you guys doin'?" It was Jun. And he sounded weak, like it was hard to talk.

"Jun?" Carter called. "What's your status, over?"

"Halsey is safe," Jun replied, "inside Castle Base. Covvies got me, though."

Teana called up TEAMBIO on her HUD, and gasped in horror. Jun's spine had been severed at mid-waist, his armor was seriously damaged, and he was losing blood at a rapid rate. He was alone, and bleeding to death. And Covenant forces were converging on his position.

"I'll take as many of the bastards with me as I can" he struggled out, and the sound of a sniper rifle firing was heard. "Come on, you sons of bitches! I've got a bullet for each of you! Before I die, I'm sending each and every one of you to Hell!" The radio cut out, static filling the channel.

"Jun! _Jun!_" Teana's panic was interrupted by Jess' shout of

"INCOMING!" The Wraith mortar came falling down, the trio of Spartans barely getting out of the way in time. The team moved behind an abandoned tractor-trailer, as Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals moved up toward them. Emile, running off the rage of losing yet another squad-mate, roared and charged, drawing his kukri and slashing at the faces and throats of any Covenant soldier he could reach. Jess & Teana went left, running into a small building, and gunning down a Brute they found in there. After a bit, Emile regained control of himself and joined them, leaving behind five dead Brutes, three dying Jackals, and a hapless Grunt whose head had been split like a ripe melon. Over the next few minutes, the trio picked off the remaining Brutes and Grunts outside, killing the two Jackal marksmen on the deployable lookout tower, and ducking inside whenever a Wraith mortar came in. Jess spotted the Wraith and debated firing a few rockets at it, but chose not to, deciding to save the warheads for later. He had something else in mind, something a little more daring. After the last Brute fell, he used his DMR to kill the Brute Captain manning the Wraith's plasma turret. He went left, passing through another structure and making his way around and through pipes and stuff, getting closer to the Wraith. He stepped into view, too close for the Wraith to launch a mortar at him. The Brute pilot boosted the 47-ton vehicle at him; Jess responded by armor-locking, the Wraith's impact sliding him across the ground. He released the lock, the contact EMP stunning the Wraith, and leapt atop it. He pried open the top hatch and tossed a grenade in. He leapt off, rolled away, and the grenade triggered a larger explosion as the Wraith's fuel cells went up.

The trio moved up a nearby slope, encountering a pair of suicide Grunts. One managed to get in close, and Emile dodged at the last split-second, being sent rolling by the shockwave that drained his shields by 70% and knocked free his dog-tags. Jess shot the three needle-rifle-wielding Jackal marksmen and bent over to pick them up. He looked to Emile.

"Hold onto 'em for now" Emile said. "Give 'em back when we're not in a rush."

Teana picked up a needle rifle and six clips of ammo from the Jackals, and the three Spartans moved through a narrow rock passageway. As they approached an open area, Carter radioed them.

"Noble. We've got a… situation."

As the trio rounded the corner, a Scarab stalked into view, its 'eye' looking right at them.

"Motherfucker…" Emile breathed. "We can get past it, sir."

"No you can't" Carter replied. "Not without help."

"Commander… you don't have the firepower."

As the Scarab began to charge its main gun, a barrage of 70mm shots smacked into its 'head', stunning it. The Pelican, still trailing flames, soared over and past it, beginning a wide turn. "I've got the mass."

"…Solid copy. Hit 'em hard, boss."

Teana's eyes widened. "Carter… no, not you too! Please! I can't lose anyone else!"

"You've gotten strong, Tia. I know you'll do just fine. Deliver that package. Save the day. You're on your own, Noble. Carter out."

The Pelican slammed into the side of the Scarab at near-top speed, vanishing in a huge explosion. The Scarab stumbled, a tremendous hole blown in its side, flames consuming it. It 'screamed' and tripped, falling over the edge of the cliff. A few seconds in, there was an explosion.

"Crevice to the east" Emile gestured ahead as he turned to the pair behind him, one stunned and the other horrified. "Let's go."

They passed the cliff edge, seeing the decommissioned UNSC ships sitting on the ground off in the distance. They entered another closed-in canyon area, and as they passed a trio of dead marines (stocking up on frag grenades in the process), an ominous buzz could be heard up ahead.

"Buggers" Emile said. "Go quiet."

The trio crept around the corner, and a Drone flew into view. It spotted them and shrieked. Jess fired with his DMR, and the creature came apart explosively. Well, this was an interesting discovery; if a Drone is head-shotted by a high-power rifle, it explodes. Jess & Teana used their rifles to take advantage of this discovery, and the area was soon littered with bug bits. They moved forward, rounding a corner and spotting four more Drones that were quickly dealt with before they could react. The trio hopped down a path to the right, catching a pair of Drones resting on the ground, and then came out on the lower level A Skirmisher ran out, firing its plasma pistol, only for Emile to shoot it in the face with his pistol. Two more Drones flew in, and Teana stuck one with three needles, which promptly super-combined and blew the insect to bits. The other one got too close and was blown apart by Emile's shotgun. A trio of red-armored Skirmishers equipped with forearm shields appeared and opened fire, one wielding a carbine and the other two carrying needle rifles. Teana opened fire at the nearest one's face with Mirage Rifle, but it raised its arms and blocked the shots. So she blew out its kneecaps. It collapsed, and another shot to the head ended its life. Jess got three needle rifle rounds into the second Skirmisher's abdomen, and the resulting blast tore the alien in half. Emile rushed the last one, carbine rounds bouncing off his shields, and swung his knife in an arc, beheading the alien. He bent down and picked up the purple carbine and four clips of ammo from the dead Kig-Yar's body.

The trio moved on, passing another small group of fallen marines. Near one, Teana found a fully-charged Spartan Laser – an older model carrying four shots' worth of charge. She grabbed it, bracing it on her shoulder, and followed the other two out to a rock outcropping that overlooked the site of a battle. Below, marines traded fire with a force of Covenant – mostly Skirmishers and Jackals, but with a pair of red-armored Elite Majors, a white-armored Elite Ultra, and a gold-armored Elite General amongst them. A decommissioned frigate marked as _UNSC Commonwealth_, partially dismantled, blocked their view of the _Autumn_.

"This is Captain Keyes of the _Pillar of Autumn_" a man's voice came over the radio, his tone carrying calmness and confidence. "We're tracking you, Noble, and have begun our launch sequence. Proceed to dry-dock, Platform D. I'll be there myself to receive the package."

"We'll be there, sir" Emile said.

"You'd better be, soldier," Keyes replied, "because my countdown is no-abort."

"Understood. We gotta get to the dry-dock; Priority One."

Teana glanced down, spotting the Elite field commander. Its shields, at full charge, would withstand a Spartan Laser hit. Fortunately, a grenade tossed by a marine went off at its feet, and its shields flared brightly. Teana took the opportunity, pointing the weapon and holding down the trigger. After a few seconds of charge, a large red laser shot forth, burning through the Elite leader's shields and punching through its chest. The Spartan Laser vented steam, and after it cooled Teana pointed at an Elite Ranger standing inside the frigate, watching the battle from above. A laser shot vaporized its head. Two more shots killed the Elite Ultra and one of the Majors, and Teana tossed the empty weapon aside. The three Spartans jumped down from the rock, landing just in time to catch a pair of Skirmishers rushing toward them. Jess shot them both in the head with his DMR. Emile looked left, and tossed a frag grenade at a trio of Jackals harassing two marines. The explosive sent the mangled bodies flying. The marines, six in all, formed up with the Spartans, the super-soldiers' presence raising their morale. A red-armored Elite tried to sneak around in a flanking maneuver, but was spotted, and a barrage of weapons fire drained its shields and killed it in less than two seconds. Another small wave of Covenant appeared, a trio of Skirmishers and a blue-armored Elite Minor led by an Elite Ranger. Emile sniped the Skirmishers with his carbine, and then charged the Elite Minor, blowing its guts out with a point-blank shotgun blast. Teana rushed the Ranger, switching to Longsword Mode and slicing an arm off. Another slash ripped through the alien's chest, killing it. She switched back to Rifle Mode and signaled the group to keep moving.

The group jogged up the stairs, climbing into the decommissioned frigate and reaching the other side. They found an opening overlooking another area, filled with Grunts. Two Ghosts patrolled, and a trio of Shade turrets stood between them and their objective. Fortunately, Jess found another Spartan Laser, and this one was a newer five-shot model. He quickly disposed of the three Shades, and then went over to the other opening several meters to the right. Teana picked up a sniper rifle and started picking off Grunts, focusing on those carrying fuel rod guns first, while Jess used the last two shots of the Spartan Laser to destroy the two Ghosts. After Teana used up the sniper rifle's ammo, leaving only five panicking Grunts left to deal with, the marines headed down the stairs, intent on reaching the building. The Spartans took a more direct route, dropping a few dozen feet to the ground below, their shields absorbing the impact. The ground force rushed ahead, a marine picking up a fuel rod gun from a fallen Grunt, and they entered the building, gunning down a trio of Grunts who didn't get out of the way fast enough.

Inside the building, a medium-sized room held two Elites – one red-armored, the other white. The marine with the fuel rod gun stepped in and opened fire. The green bolts of death killed the red-armored Elite and seriously wounded the white-armored one. As the team rushed in, a marine put it out of its misery. The team filed through the door and through another few rooms, soon reaching a quartet of army troopers who were currently engaged in a battle for control of a large room.

"Spartans?" one of them noticed the newcomers. "Dry-dock's through that structure. Punch through; we'll back you up."

Teana used her needle rifle to down a pair of Grunts, and then Jess tossed a grenade to take out three Jackals. A red-armored Elite fired, taking down one of the army troopers; Teana fired a rifle grenade at it, smacking it in the face and draining its shields. A DMR shot from a marine brought it down. Just then, a Phantom hovered outside, dropping two white-armored Elites. An army trooper picked up a plasma pistol that had been dropped by a dead Jackal. He overcharged it, pointed at the nearest Elite Ultra, and let fly. The Elite's shields were stripped by the EMP bolt, leaving it easy prey for Teana's needle rifle. The other Elite roared and tossed a plasma grenade. It missed the trooper, but stuck to a marine. The man at least had the sense of mind to immediately roll away from his comrades, ensuring that he was the only one killed in the resulting blast. The rest of the marines concentrated fire, pounding away at the Elite's shields. Emile opened fire with his carbine, and soon the alien's shields were down, and a green glowing projectile blew through its brain.

A Pelican flew in, and the marines & troopers got aboard. There wasn't room for the Spartans, so they continued on. Soon, they reached another area, containing four Skirmishers and a Hunter pair. The trio used their rifles to quickly pick off the Skirmishers, but this got the Hunters' attention. The two walking artillery pieces turned and fired, twin bolts of explosive green energy heading for them. They dived out of the way, and the ground was scorched where the bolts hit. The trio moved in, Jess finally readying his rocket launcher. He pulled a bullfight on one of the Hunters, and shot it in the back with a rocket. It stumbled, and he hit it again before it could reorient itself. The beast collapsed to the ground, dead. Emile and Teana circled around the other one, firing whenever they saw an opening. Orange blood stained the ground at the Hunter's feet, but it continued to try and get a bead on one of them. Teana stepped toward it, jumping to the side to avoid a hammer-strike from the shield. Emile blasted the distracted Hunter in the back with his shotgun twice, dealing considerable damage before the creature brought its shield over its head and behind it, forcing Emile to dodge-roll to avoid being crushed. Teana fired a rifle grenade almost point-blank, and the creature stumbled, its compound form beginning to lose cohesion. Another rifle grenade did the job, and it collapsed in a heap.

Nearby, a door slid open, and a pair of army troopers poked their heads out, admiring the results of the Spartans' handiwork. They signaled the armored soldiers to come over, and the trio entered the smelting facility. Nearby, a trio of Jackals stood at ground level shields overlapping to deflect bullets. Overhead, on a catwalk, four more Jackals started down, shields active. Teana fired another 40mm grenade, killing two of the floor-level Jackals and stunning the third, leaving it open for a DMR shot to the cranium from Jess. Suddenly, a white-armored Elite wielding a plasma sword charged out. Emile fired a few carbine shots, but the Elite dodged and weaved, avoiding the hits as it ran toward the humans. Teana switched to Longsword Mode and responded in kind, locking blades with the tall alien. She parried a diagonal strike and summoned her other blade, swinging it at her foe's legs. The shields protected the alien, but were drained in the process. Teana headbutted the alien, stunning it, and then drove both energy swords through its chest. It stared at her in shock, and then collapsed. She withdrew and deactivated her blades, switching her right weapon to standard pistol and her left to plasma-bolt pistol. She went up the stairs, Jess & Emile close behind her and the troopers bringing up the rear, and Jess tossed a frag grenade over her head, killing three of the Jackals. Emile rushed forward and grabbed the fourth, tossing it over the ledge and into the vat of molten metal below. Mercifully, it landed head-first in the liquefied metal, and was thus killed instantly. "Fried chicken?" Emile said, and the troopers chuckled.

Across the catwalk was the door to the next area. From it came an Elite Major and four Grunts, joining the three Jackal marksmen already there. Jess shot the Jackals while the marines took out the Grunts, and Emile & Teana exchanged fire with the Elite. The alien's shields gave, and a trio of shots from Teana's pistol ended its life. Satisfied, the group moved on. As they passed through the next hallway, the building shuddered and the lights flickered.

"Keyes to Noble Team" the Captain spoke over the comm. channel. "We're running out of time here, Spartans!"

"Solid copy, sir" Emile responded. "We're en route."

The group hurried up the stairs. At the top, a trio of army troopers held a Jackal and two Grunts at bay. Jess threw a frag grenade, killing the Covenant soldiers. The three Spartans moved on, soon reaching a door leading outside. There, a pair of marines waited for them.

**Keyes**

"What's the situation?" Emile asked.

"We rigged a mass driver up top" a marine responded. "If we lose that, the _Autumn _will have no covering fire; she'll never make orbit."

"Noble to Keyes" Emile radioed. "We're at the pad."

"Copy, Noble. My Pelican's ready. Clear an LZ and I'll meet you there."

"Will do, sir" Emile then turned to Jess & Teana. "All right, guys… this is it. I'll man the big gun. You just get to the platform and deliver that package."

The squad of two Spartans and eight soldiers hurried outside and down the steps; Jess, Teana, and four soldiers headed up to the crow's nest, where Teana grabbed the waiting sniper rifle and two extra clips. Jess readied his DMR. The other four set up defensive positions around the structure, one of them joining the Spartans in the little shack, his back to theirs as he watched their six-o-clock, ready for any Covenant that got up the stairs to his right. A Phantom flew in, depositing several Brute Minors and several Grunts on the landing pad.

"I'm in position!" Emile radioed. "I'll take out as many dropships as I can!" As he said this, a MAC round punched through the Phantom, which erupted in a ball of blue-white fire. Another coilgun shot destroyed a Spirit flying toward the area from the distance. Teana switched Cross Mirage to rifle mode, single-shot, and picked off some Grunts. A marine wielding a DMR took a Brute down, and another Brute fell when a pair of needle rifle shots buried themselves in its face, ripping its skull open when they went off. Down below, the other UNSC soldiers engaged the Grunts and a pair of Brutes up-close. They quickly overwhelmed and killed their alien foes.

Another two Phantoms flew in, one dropping off a few Jackal Majors and Brute Captains near the rocks at the far side of the platform, the other disgorging more Grunts and Brutes in the rocks to the left of the crow's nest building. This latter one was shot down when trying to flee, a MAC round coring it. "That was for Jorge!" A pair of Banshees flying by was lined up perfectly for another MAC shot to obliterate both of them. "That one was for Kat!"

A few Brutes reached the stairs, and were caught by surprise when the Spartans' rear-guard marine blasted them almost point-blank with a shotgun. One died instantly; the other took a swing as it fell, knocking the marine off his feet, but the soldier's armor protected him from the blow. Teana used her sniper rifle to kill three of the distant Brute Captains, while the fourth dove for cover. The marines on the lower level charged that position; one killed the last Brute with a plasma grenade, and the others used the hand-then-head method to down the Jackals.

One final wave of Phantoms came in; three in all. The first was obliterated before it could drop its troops. "That was for Jun!" The second hovered directly over the crow's nest, dropping a pack of Brutes led by a Chieftain carrying a plasma launcher. The four marines were caught off-guard, surrounded, and quickly killed, and Jess promptly killed the Chieftain with a direct hit from the rocket launcher, also killing two of its underlings. The rest were cut down by Teana's needle rifle and two short-range sniper shots. Meanwhile, the third Phantom dropped its cargo of Brute Captains and a fuel-rod-gun-carrying Chieftain, and as it flew away a MAC shot destroyed it. "And that was for Carter!" The pack of elite Brutes, however, quickly massacred the marines below, the Chieftain's heavy weapon blowing them to pieces as the pack advanced on the crow's nest. Jess fired another rocket, taking out three of the five Captains, and loaded his final two rockets. Teana used her sniper rifle to kill the Chieftain, the first shot damaging its shields and the second punching through them and shooting through the Brute's skull, blowing its helmet off. She then fired a few 40mm grenades at the last two Captains.

"Noble to Keyes," Emile radioed, "pad is clear." Emile & Jess made their way down, heading toward the landing pad.

"On the way" Keyes replied.

"Six, Tia… time for you to leave. Get the package to the pad, and get your asses off this planet. I've got your back."

The two red-armored Spartans stepped onto the landing pad, watching the approaching Pelican.

"This is Keyes on hot approach to Platform Delta, ready to take possession of the package."

The dropship touched down, and Captain Jacob Keyes stepped out, eyeing the two Spartans.

"Good to see you, Spartans" he said. "Catherine assured me I could count on you."

"Not just us, sir" Jess said solemnly.

"They'll be remembered" Keyes said, noticing the slumped shoulders and slight twitches in Teana. The poor girl had lost most of her 'family' in less than two weeks' time; it was a wonder she hadn't had a breakdown yet. She handed him the data module as she climbed aboard the Pelican. "Are we grabbing Emile?" she asked.

"Of course" Keyes replied. "That's why I came with two Pelicans." Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them. The group looked, and saw a massive shape descend through the clouds, heading towards them.

COVENANT _SANGHELIOS_-CLASS BATTLECRUISER – 1,782 METERS

"Damn it!" Keyes cursed, calling up his helmsman on the comm. "Adjust heading for the _Autumn_! Noble-4, I need fire on that battlecruiser or we're not getting out of here!"

"You'll have your window, sir" was the reply, and the gun began to turn to face the oncoming threat.

"Bridge, this is the Captain. We have the Package. Returning to the _Autumn_, over."

Suddenly, a Phantom appeared, opening fire on the second Pelican. The craft's engines burst into flames, and it nosed over, Jess diving to the ground as Keyes' dropship went airborne. The Phantom wheeled overhead, heading for the mass driver, and suppressing fire from the ship's side turret forced Jess to duck. An Elite Zealot leapt from the ship, raising its sword to strike. Emile blasted it before it could, knocking it off its feet. He aimed at the alien's chest, and fired again; the Elite slumped and tumbled off of the gun. "Who's next?" he yelled.

The second Zealot came out of nowhere, its plasma sword impaling Emile through the chest from behind and lifting him off the ground. Even though his heart had just been destroyed, Emile spun around in the Elite's grasp, drawing his kukri. "I'm ready to die! How 'bout you?" With that, he jammed the knife into the Elite's neck, and the both of them toppled off the gun.

"Jess!"

He turned around, spotting the Pelican, its ramp deployed, hovering toward him. Teana leaned out, hand extended.

"Lieutenant!" Pvt. Jenkins shouted. "Get aboard! We gotta get the hell outta here!"

"Negative" Jess said calmly, realizing what had to be done. "I have the gun. I'll deal with the cruiser." He walked over, placing Carter's & Emile's dog-tags in Teana's outstretched hand, along with his own. Through the depolarized visor, he could see the emotion in the girl's eyes, and at that moment he saw the lonely, panicky little girl inside. "Stay safe, Teana" he added.

The Pelican lifted off as Jess turned and walked away. "Godspeed, Spartan" Keyes said softly, cradling the data module.

Jess hurried up the stairs, shooting a pack of Special-Ops Grunts and shrugging off their fire. At the top, in the doorway, an Elite Zealot opened fire with dual plasma rifles; Jess stuck a plasma grenade to its face, and with a flash the alien's head disappeared. He rushed past the still-smoking body, entering an open-roofed chamber. Two more Grunts fell to his DMR, and a Zealot with a concussion rifle fired and missed. Jess ran into a side room, and the Elite pursued, only to get smacked in the face by an assault rifle being wielded as a club. Jess flipped the weapon around and opened fire, further draining the Elite's shields. The alien regained its balance, but was too close to fire its concussion rifle without injuring itself. Instead, it charged, trying to bash the Spartan's helmet in with the weapon. Jess sidestepped and dropped the assault rifle, tripping the Elite with his foot and jamming the DMR's muzzle into its mouth. He fired thrice, and the alien was dead. Jess grabbed the concussion rifle, reloading it and sprinting across the room, reaching a small set of stairs. He leapt up it, and came face-to-face with another Zealot. He jumped backward, firing the concussion rifle, and the Elite roared as its shields took a pounding. A plasma grenade silenced it. Jess ran past it, encountering one last Zealot, wielding a fuel rod gun. Jess readied his rocket launcher and fired, the warhead hitting the Elite dead-on. Its shields failed, a purple blood splattered to the ground. Another rocket – his last one – blew the alien to chunks.

Jess hurriedly climbed the ladder to the cannon's controls, climbing in the seat and pointing it at the approaching starship. He fired, to no effect.

"Mass driver won't crack those shields at this range" Keyes radioed him. "Wait until it gets closer, Spartan."

A Phantom appeared from around a rock pillar up ahead, and Jess blasted it. He then aimed a little to the right, slagging another Phantom rising from below. A third came in from overhead, firing its turret; the shots missed, and Jess scrapped it. The next few minutes were spent blasting Phantoms and the occasional Banshee, until finally the battlecruiser was almost overhead. A point of light began to build up on its underside.

"Fire now, Lieutenant!" Keyes shouted over the radio. "Hit her in the gut!"

Jess aimed and fired. The hypersonic shell of depleted tungsten pierced into the belly of the Covenant warship, and the stored energy discharged explosively… into the ship. A massive explosion ripped through the vessel's ventral area, and it began to fall from the sky.

"Good guns, Spartan" Keyes radioed. "All hands, brace for castoff."

A series of booster rockets slowly raised the _Pillar of Autumn _off the ground, just as Keyes' Pelican entered a hangar, which closed behind it. The ship was flown out to the side as its rear engines glowed blue with life. Behind it, the battered Covenant vessel hit the ground, sending up a tremendous dust cloud. The booster rockets shut down and detached, falling away as the human cruiser took off, shooting high up into the sky and passing through the clouds, fading from view.

"This is the _Pillar of Autumn_. We are away. And the package is with us."

Jess climbed down the ladder one-handed, his other grasping his rifle, as he watched the vessel disappear from sight. Mission accomplished. He reloaded his rifle, and glanced out at the devastation.

**-**_**SCENE CHANGE**_**-**

The _Pillar of Autumn _raced away from Reach, a dozen Covenant ships breaking off to give chase. Ahead, another vessel tried to block their path

COVENANT _RESILIENCE_-CLASS LIGHT CARRIER – 1,455 METERS

A three-round burst from the _Autumn_'s custom MAC hit the ship, disabling its shields and punching a hole through its aft section. A barrage of Archer missiles smashed into the damaged vessel, several of them going off inside the gaping hole. The _Autumn _raced by, as Cortana entered coordinates into the slipspace drive. Space-time rippled and parted, and the battered ship disappeared from realspace, destined for an extraordinary discovery.

**-**_**SCENE CHANGE**_**-**

As the _Pillar of Autumn _travelled through slipspace, a lone figure leaned against a wall, her armor removed, and she now stood in an old blue uniform, the TSAB patch long since torn off and replaced by the emblem of the UNSC. Her hand fell, the six sets of dog-tags swinging loose. Thom. Jorge. Kat. Jun. Emile. Jess.

*drip*

A tear fell to the floor. Then another. She struggled hard to maintain composure, but this was a struggle that she was losing. Captain Jacob Keyes, having read the girl's file, walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, and he saw the barely-restrained emotion in watering blue eyes. Following his paternal instincts, he gently pulled her into a hug, her head buried in his shoulder. And the floodgates finally broke. Over the next several minutes, the red-haired teen cried her heart out, relentlessly beating herself up for failing to save her comrades – her family. Jacob held the girl, allowing her to release long-held sadness now that she was finally in a safe locale. When she'd calmed down a little, he lifted her head to look at her. Her eyes were red, and her face was tear-streaked.

"You did everything you possibly could. I know you made them proud. And I know you will honor their memory by continuing to do so." The girl nodded, and he held her for a while longer. When they reached wherever they were going, she would re-don her mask of professionalism. But right now, she was a child crying out her troubles in the arms of a father.

Several minutes later, Teana lay in a cryo-pod, her clothes folded nearby. Capt. Keyes gingerly placed the box containing Noble Team's dog-tags on the table next to her, setting Cross Mirage in card form on top of it. The hatch closed, and Teana's eyes closed as sleep claimed her exhausted self.

**-**_**SCENE CHANGE**_**-**

Jess removed his helmet, the visor cracked in multiple places, and tossed it to the ground. Dead bodies of dozens of Grunts and Elites littered the area around him, and a team of Elite Ultras, Generals, and Zealots charged him. His shield system had long since failed, having taken too much damage to his armor. He fired his assault rifle at a charging Ultra, killing it, and stumbled as plasma bolts ripped into his side. Wielding the rifle in one hand and a pistol in the other, he downed two more Elites. A gold-armored General tried to stab him, but her bashed it aside and fired the rifle point-blank, ending its life. A Zealot rushed in, smacking him and sending him flying to land on his back. The Elite leapt, trying to stab him, but was kicked away, stumbling backward. Another Zealot was kicked in the face, stunning it, as a third grappled with the downed human. The second Zealot reactivated its sword, raised the blade, and stabbed downward.

And in the collection of stories that made up UNSC history, Jess-B312's tale came to its end.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	12. Pillar of Autumn 2

Here's Chapter 12. _Halo 1 _kicks in.

UNSC NAVY: Pre-Reach: 325 ships; Post-Reach: 195 ships

COVENANT NAVY: Pre-Reach: 1,400 ships; Post-Reach: 1,196 ships

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Soell System**

**UNSC **_**Pillar of Autumn**_

**Cryo Bay Alpha**

**September 19****th****, 2552**

**Reveille**

Teana groaned as she opened her eyes. She sat up, a slight chill making her nude form shiver. She took a deep breath, leaned over, and spat/coughed out the worst-tasting thing she'd ever experienced. _Damn cryo-sleep nutrient shit_, she thought. _At least Bureau ships are fast enough that hibernation is never a necessity_. She looked to her left, spotting Cross Mirage sitting atop a box. The box holding Noble Team's dog-tags. Teana put her hand to her heart and closed her eyes, quickly suppressing the urge to cry. She climbed out of the cryo-tube, picking up her currently-inactive Device.

"Status, Mirage."

"We are currently onboard the _Pillar of Autumn_, master" he replied. "We are in an unidentified and previously-undiscovered star system, and it is September the Nineteenth, 20 days after we left Reach. Taking into account our current vessel's FTL speed of 26.25 light-years per day, we are approximately 525 light-years from Reach. A small task-force of Covenant warships pursued us, and the _Autumn _is currently engaged in battle. Three of the enemy vessels have been disabled, one of them irreparably; however, boarding craft have landed and deployed enemy forces onboard, and Captain Keyes has ordered all combat personnel to repel boarders. John-117 is awakening as we speak. A massive artificial construct is in orbit around a large gas giant nearby; scans suggest that its makers were the same ancient civilization that constructed the _Starshot_."

Teana sighed and closed her eyes, processing the information. "Armor."

"Yes, sir."

In a flash of red light, Teana briefly disappeared. When the light faded, she was clad in her red-with-orange MJOLNIR armor. She grabbed the box, having Cross Mirage place it in a subspace storage compartment. She kept Mirage in single pistol form on her right hip, and he projected an arrow at the top of her HUD. As she made her way through the door, the arrow swiveled to point left. After a few minutes of following the arrow through passages that the Covenant boarders had yet to compromise, she came to the bridge of the ship. Here, just outside the bridge, she found a Grunt pack that she quickly dispatched. As she walked into the bridge, she could detect John silently following her in, and she felt a twinge of relief; the Spartan leader's mere presence seemed to command respect and admiration, and he was easily on par with Carter in terms of squad leadership abilities, despite being almost as quiet as Jess was. Outside the forward window, coming out of the shadow of a gas giant that made Jupiter look small, was a gigantic artificial ring-shaped structure. It was 10,000 kilometers across – to the millimeter, according to Cortana – and in the inside was a mixture of swamps, plains, mountains, seas… basically, it was like someone took an Earth-like planet, cut out a strip between longitudinal lines, and cut-and-pasted it on the inside of the ring. Whoever made this had to have been countless millennia ahead of the UNSC, the TSAB, or even the Covenant to construct such a magnificent piece of astro-engineering – doubly so, considering the scans showed an age of over 100,000 years, and yet the humongous construct looked to still be in perfect condition. The Spartan pair walked over to the grey-uniformed man standing at a console, and the violet avatar of Cortana currently 'standing' on a holo-pedestal next to him.

"Captain Keyes" John spoke up, his deep, smooth voice somehow catching Keyes' attention over the controlled mayhem around him. He turned around to face the two armored figures.

"Good to see both of you, Master Chief, Warrant Officer" he said. "Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance."

"A dozen technologically-superior Covenant warships against a single heavily-damaged _Halcyon_-class cruiser" The AI replied. "With those odds, I'm content with three… make that _four _kills". She looked at the Chief. "Sleep well?"

"No thanks to your driving, yes" he snarked.

"So you _did _miss me."

A sudden blast rocked the ship, and anyone not sitting down grabbed hold of the nearest object to keep from falling over. "What the hell was that?" Teana blurted/shouted out. (AN: Lemme guess: when this gets posted on the site, the exclamation point immediately following the question mark disappears _again_…)

"It must've been one of their boarding parties!" Cortana replied. "Readings suggest an anti-matter charge!"

"Ma'am!" Lieutenant Aki Hikowa shouted to the AI. "Fire control for the main cannon is offline!"

"Captain, the MAC was my last defensive option" Cortana said to Keyes.

"Alright" Keyes sighed. "I'm initiating Cole Protocol Article 2. We're abandoning ship. That means you, too, Cortana."

"While you do what? Go down with the ship?"

"In a manner of speaking. That ringworld we've found… I'm going to try and land the _Autumn _on it."

"With all due respect, sir, this war has enough _dead _heroes…"

"I appreciate the concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear: the destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable. That means you're leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and the sort yourself for hard transfer."

"…Aye-aye, sir." She disappeared, and Keyes turned to the Spartan pair.

"Which is where you come in, Chief. Get Cortana off this ship. If they capture her, they'll learn everything. Force deployments, weapons research… _Earth_."

"I understand" the Master Chief said softly.

"Noble-7, go with him. The Covenant are probably already down there already, and two Spartans will scare them more than one."

"Yes, sir"

Cortana's avatar reappeared. "The _Autumn _will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."

"Excellent work, Cortana. Thank you. Are you ready?"

She looked around, taking in the bridge, then sighed and closed her eyes. "Yank me."

Captain Keyes entered a keycode in the base of the holo-projector, and then pulled out a small chip, handing it to the Master Chief. "Good luck, Master Chief."

John looked at the chip, and then inserted it into the slot on the back of his helmet. He felt as Cortana made her presence known.

"Hmm…" she went. "Your architecture isn't much different from the _Autumn_'s…"

"Don't get any funny ideas" he replied.

**AI Constructs and Cyborgs First!**

Teana summoned her second pistol, handing it to John, who accepted it with a nod. The two crept out through the small hallway, soon encountering five Grunts. They were quickly dispatched. The sounds of combat drew them to the nearby cafeteria, where a trio of blue-armored Elites and a half-dozen Grunts were engaged in a firefight with five marines. John tossed Teana back her pistol as he grabbed an M6D from a fallen Ensign and an MA5B assault rifle from a dead marine. The two of them ran into the room, John quickly killing the Grunts with his HE pistol as Teana switched one of her pistols to plasma-bolt mode, using it to wear down an Elite's shields and then shooting it through the head with her bullet-mode pistol. The marines, bolstered by the Spartans' presence, focused fire and took the second Elite down. The third dove into cover, and Teana pursued, switching to rifle mode full-auto and equipping the bayonet. She led with the blade out, and the Elite barely avoided having its eye put out, the blade sliding along its helmet, its shields flaring. It roared, and Teana stuck the muzzle in its face, and held down the trigger. The weakened shields gave way, and the bullets tore through the alien's skull, scattering violet blood on the bulkhead behind it. She then headed right, passing through the doorway as the Chief took the left-hand doorway. They caught a small pack of Grunts in-between them, and cut them down before they could flee down the nearby hallway. The Master Chief grabbed some ammo for his weapons from the ground near a rack, and then he & Teana passed through the corridor. At the far end of a corridor, two orange-armored Grunts came into view, and barely had time to scream before the two Spartans charged and simultaneously shoulder-checked them into the wall with all their might, cracking the diminutive aliens' skulls.

Rounding a few more corners, they reached a corridor, coming up behind a blue-armored Elite that was trading fire with a pair of marines at the other end. John flipped his pistol in his hand, and smashed the butt of the weapon into the back of the alien's head. The lifeless Elite toppled to the ground. The marines – Mendoza and Jenkins – nodded a thanks. As John & Teana reached them and they walked into the next, more open corridor, the ship suddenly lurched violently in a manner unlike that of a plasma blast.

"What the hell?" Jenkins shouted (with another vanishing exclamation mark). "Did something just hit us?"

"Move it!" Mendoza shouted as he ran down the corridor. "Back to the airlocks!" The other three followed him, the Master Chief taking the lead. As they reached an airlock door, the two marines guarding it were hit by an explosion from it, their split-second-long screams being cut off as they smacked hard into the wall. From the busted airlock – or rather, from the Covenant boarding craft that had attached to it – came four Grunts and another blue-armored Elite. John opened fire on the Elite with his assault rifle, while Teana blasted the Grunts with dual pistols, and Mendoza peeked into the boarding and gunned down a Grunt straggler. The Elite's shields gave way under the Chief's assault, and it doubled over and collapsed holding its stomach, violet blood leaking out between its fingers. Another two bullets to the head finished it off.

The two Spartans moved on, passing through corridors until they reached another firefight in progress. They went right, flanking the red-armored Elite and its five Grunts and catching them off-guard. Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode and opened fire on full-auto at the Elite, as John picked off the Grunts with his pistol. The little ones being taken care of, the three marines added their fire to Teana's, and soon the Elite fell. Teana stripped two plasma grenades from the alien's belt, adding them to her current arsenal. The Spartans headed right, hanging another right and following another few corridors, eventually encountering another firefight and again flanking the Covenant forces. Teana threw one of her plasma grenades, sticking the blue-armored Elite. The explosion killed it and the three Grunts under its command. The duo moved on again, reaching another airlock that had disgorged its contents of a half-dozen Grunts and two blue-armored Elites. John opened fire on the nearest Elite, taking it down, while Teana charged in and used her bayonet to slice through the other Elite's shields and its neck. The Grunts flew into a panic, leaving them easy prey for a trio of marines that had been following the much faster Spartans for the purpose of getting any scraps the two armored soldiers left behind for them.

"So, they're using _our _lifepod airlocks to attach _their _boarding craft" Cortana observed. "That's a tad unusually clever for them."

The Spartans moved on, crawling beneath a partially-lowered door, and came across a group of two red-armored Skirmishers and six orange-armored Grunts harassing a group of navy shipmen. The Chief used his pistol to blow the brains out the nearest Skirmisher, and Teana fired a three-round burst through the other's upper chest. She then went full-auto and gunned down the Grunts, John pistol-whipping one that tried to escape. They moved on, John grabbing a few clips of assault rifle ammo from a fallen marine, and they soon reached a two-level room. On the bottom level, a few marines exchanged fire with the Covenant on the upper level – a red-armored Elite carrying a plasma repeater, three Grunts, and two Skirmishers with carbines. The avian aliens spotted the duo and focused fire on the Chief, and his shield alarm began to sound.

"Keep your head down!" Cortana told him. "There's two of us in here now, remember?"

He said nothing, only drawing his pistol and shooting a Skirmisher through the throat. A marine scored a lucky shot with his assault rifle, a bullet passing through the other Skirmisher's eye and ripping through its brain. Teana ran up the stairs, gunning down the Grunts and rolling forward to dodge the Elite's shots. When she came back up, she had switched to single Longsword Mode. A rising swing chopped the blue plasma weapon in two, and a follow-up roundhouse kick hit the Elite's abdomen and weakened its shields. By now, the Master Chief had made it up, and he fired with the pistol, draining the alien's weakened shields and shooting it through the chest four times, dealing fatal damage. The Elite growled, tried to step toward them, and fell forward, dead. They passed through a nearby door, entering a long passageway containing another Elite Major, this time carrying a concussion rifle, as well as a small pack of Grunts. The Chief ran forward, dodging plasma shells, and opened fire with the assault rifle. The clip ran dry before he could finish it off, so he swung the weapon as a club, bashing the alien in the skull. UNSC weapon-crafting proved superior, and the rifle caved the Elite's head in with not so much as a crack on the gun. The team moved on, taking down another pack of Grunts in a hallway where the lights had gone out. As they moved through the next area, passing through a hallway with windows overlooking the outside, they witnessed yet another Covenant war crime in progress.

A quartet of life-pods launched from the _Autumn_. One made it through, but the other three were blown to bits mere seconds after launching. "They _really_ don't want us getting to that ring" Cortana mused. At the other end of the lifepod hallway, a Jackal and a trio of Grunts opened fire at the Spartans. The distance meant that the plasma bolts missed – though not by much – and Teana & John used single-shot rifle shots and pistol shots, respectively, to clear the area. At the end, they hung a right, finding a small door leading into a small, cramped, dark hallway.

"We'll have to take the maintenance access-ways" the Chief said to Teana. "Wanna take point, or should I?"

"I'll do it, sir" she replied, switching Mirage to one longsword and one plasma-bolt pistol. She entered the cramped passage, John right behind her, and they activated their VISR systems, the hallway being 'lit up' and outlined in yellow. They spent the next few minutes skulking through corridors, following the waypoints on John's HUD and the arrow on Teana's. Eventually, they came out into a dark room, finding a heavily damaged door blocking their progress. John simply punched it open, and the pair moved on, assassinating a few Grunts. They reached another long hallway, populated by two blue-armored Elites and a pack of Grunts. Teana switched Mirage to rifle mode and fired a 40mm grenade into the group, killing three of the seven Grunts and draining an Elite's shields. She took the latter down with a single shot to the head. John, meanwhile, used his pistol to gun down the Grunts and then turned his assault rifle on the other Elite, shooting down its shields and gunning it down. They continued on, passing through the observation room overlooking a cryo-bay.

"It looks like the Covenant wanted to catch you napping" Cortana said.

They passed through, and up ahead a blue-armored Elite was caught in a sudden explosion, hurling its body to the deck. Around a corner, a quartet of Grunts was caught in another blast, killing two of them and wounding the others. John put them down with his assault rifle. The pair entered another access tunnel and made their way through, killing a few surprised Grunts. They came out into another firefight, blind-siding a red-armored Elite with dual full-auto fire, quickly taking its shields down and killing it. They then shifted attention to the Grunts, killing them with the assistance of a pair of marines. The now-four-person-group moved forward, cutting through a passageway and hitting another occupied hallway, this one with two blue-armored Elites and three Grunts. The two Spartans each picked an Elite to fill full of lead with their rifles, while the marine pair gunned down the Grunts.

They moved on, and soon found the lifeboat area. In it, a pack of Grunts & Jackals stood between them and freedom, led by a white-armored Elite Ultra. Fortunately, a nearby barricade held a half-dozen frag grenades, which the two Spartans put to good use. Two blasts killed the Jackals and drained the Elite's shields, and Teana gunned down the hapless alien. The pair then vaulted over the barricade, shooting down the fleeing Grunts.

"There's one last lifeboat" Cortana told them. "Get aboard before it launches!"

A marine stumbled and fell trying to get aboard the lifepod, and the Master Chief picked him up and hurled him in.

"Now would be a _very _good time to leave!" Cortana said.

John & Teana climbed in, the latter taking a seat while the former hit the button to close the door. "Punch it" he said to the pilot.

"Aye-aye, sir" she replied. With a bang, the lifepod shot out of the airlock, heading for the massive ringworld. "We're disengaged" the pilot said. "Goin' for minimum safe distance."

"We're gonna make it, aren't we, sir?" a panicky marine said. "I don't wanna die out here!"

"Easy, soldier" Teana replied to him. "We ain't dead yet."

The Chief walked toward the front, gazing out at the humongous construct rapidly growing in his vision.

"What the hell is that thing, Lieutenant?" a marine shouted.

"Hell if I know," the pilot replied, "but we're landin' on it."

"The _Autumn_! She's going down!"

Nearby (in space-flight terms), the _Pillar of Autumn _sped past, plasma weapons smashing into it in a vain attempt to prevent it landing on the "sacred" ring.

"I knew it!" Cortana shouted. "The _Autumn _is accelerating! Keyes is going in manually!"

"Heads up, everyone! This is it! We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five!"

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?" Cortana asked her carrier.

"We'll be fine" he responded.

The edges of the pod began to heat from friction with the ring's atmosphere.

"If I still had fingers, they'd be crossed…" Cortana remarked.

**-**_**FADE TO WHITE**_**-**

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	13. Halo

Here's Chapter 13.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**September 19****th****, 2552**

**Flawless Cowboy**

"We're coming in too fast!"

The lifepod shot over a hill, approaching a grassy stretch of land bordering a cliff. Four large flaps had extended from it, and flames shot from a pair of jets on the front, trying to slow the craft's descent. Suddenly, the flaps broke away.

"Damn! Airbrake failure!" the pilot shouted. "They blew too early!" The ground was approaching rapidly. The marine that the Master Chief had tossed aside was gripping tightly to his seat, muttering a constant litany of swear words. "I'm losin' her! Brace for impact!"

At the moment before impact, Cross Mirage sprang into action, deeming his master's survival more important than her wishes. With the speed only an AI can manage, he partially undid her Linker Core seal, drawing a burst of magic through/from her and into himself. With it, he cast a high-strength barrier spell, the toughest he could muster, and surrounded Teana and John with it, also casting an inertial dampening spell to protect them from the incoming g-forces. The impact was devastating. Teana's restraints came free and she was thrown to the floor, landing next to John who was also blasted off his feet. The rest of the pod's occupants didn't fare so well; the crash tore the restraints off many of them, and they were thrown about like ragdolls. The rear door came off, and a few were ejected from the craft. Those whose restraints didn't break had their necks snapped by the sudden stop, along with the g-forces wreaking havoc on their bodies. The pilot's head was slammed forward into her instrument panel, cracking both her helmet and her skull like an egg. After the craft had finally come to a stop, the barrier spell faded, and Mirage re-did the core seal. The spell had done its work; John and Teana were the only ones to survive the crash.

"Chief? Lanstar? Are you two all right? Can you move?"

John groaned lightly as he shook the cobwebs out of his head and got to his feet, and then turned to help his smaller partner to hers. They stared at the scene of bloody devastation, and he sighed sadly. He retrieved his assault rifle and pistol, and scavenged some ammo for them from the fallen troopers. He stepped out, Teana following, and they looked around. The first thing they noticed was the sight of the ground ever-so-slowly curving up into the sky, stretching all the way around, and coming back down behind them.

"We should move" he said to her. "The Covenant might send someone to investigate the crash site." She nodded, and Cortana cut in.

"Warning! I've detected multiple Covenant dropships on approach. I recommend moving into those hills. If we're lucky, the Covenant will believe that everyone aboard this lifeboat died in the crash." As the two started heading left toward a 'bridge', Cortana muttered "I'm reading thousands of types of flora. The ring's ecosystem is incredibly sophisticated."

As they reached the bridge and worked their way across, a Spirit flew into the area they'd entered, escorted by two Banshees. The Spartan pair made it across the bridge and started skulking up the hill through the shadows cast by boulders and trees, soon finding a place to stop and hide. After about half a minute, the Banshees and Spirit left the area, and they continued up the hill. As they went up, five Grunts and a Skirmisher made their way down. They spotted the Spartans, and started making their way closer to get in range. John & Teana didn't have that issue, and used their pistols to quickly dispatch the newcomers. They continued to the top of the hill and hopped off a short ledge, and the sounds of gunfire were audible around the next 'corner'. They went through just in time to see a Spirit drop off a half-dozen Grunts and a red-armored Elite. They charged the Covenant, focusing full-auto rifle fire to take down the Elite, while the marines took down the distracted Grunts. After the area was clear, two marines ran up.

"Good to see you two, sirs" Pvt. Bisenti said. "For a while there, I thought we were the only ones to make it off the _Autumn_."

"Status" Chief asked.

"It's a mess, sir" First-Sergeant Johnson replied. "We're scattered all over this valley. We called for evac, but until you showed up I thought we were cooked."

"Don't worry, First-Sergeant" Cortana replied. "We'll stay here until evac arrives."

Right after she said this, a marine called attention to an incoming dropship. The two Spartans and the old marine raced across the area, just in time to watch a Spirit drop off four Jackals and three Grunts. A grenade from the Master Chief killed two of the Jackals, and a 40mm rifle grenade from Teana killed the trio of Grunts. The other two Jackals were taken down by Johnson using the hand-then-head method. Soon another Spirit dropped in on a hill a few dozen meters away, dropping a red-armored Elite, three Skirmishers, and three Grunts. A marine with a DMR he'd held onto since Reach took out one of the Skirmishers, and a grenade from another marine took out the Grunts. Johnson used his pistol to kill the other two Skirmishers, while the Chief and Teana opened fire on the Elite, draining its shields and taking it down. Soon after, a Phantom flew in and hovered above the spot where John & Teana had come from, and it dropped off two Elites – an Ultra with a concussion rifle and a Major with a needle rifle – and four needler-wielding Grunts. The marines took cover, but one of them didn't do so fast enough, and a trio of needles from a Grunt buried themselves in his neck. When they went off, his head was almost completely torn off. Teana decided that the Ultra was the biggest threat, and pulled out the other plasma grenade she'd picked up on the _Pillar of Autumn_. She threw it, and it stuck to the faceplate of the white-armored Elite's helmet. The alien barely had time to roar in outrage before the blast vaporized its head. She then ran and picked up its concussion rifle, turning it on the red-armored Elite. Four shots took it down, and the last two of the clip killed two of the Grunts. She bent over and grabbed three more clips from the dead Elite, placing on in the gun, while the Chief took the rest of the Grunts out. Finally, the area was clear.

"This is Pelican Echo-419" a woman's voice came over the comm. "Anybody read me? Repeat: any UNSC personnel respond."

"Roger, Echo-419" Johnson replied. "This is Fireteam Charlie. We read you. Is that you, Foehammer?"

"Roger, Fireteam Charlie" the women said, as her dropship entered the area and began to circle the odd tower as it descended. "Good to hear from ya!"

"If you're not too busy, we could use a lift. We have survivors to transport to the command shuttle."

"On my way"

Just then, three lifeboats flew overhead, heading 'north' and disappearing from view.

"If those lifeboats make it down," Cortana said, "the Covenant are going to be right on top of them. Foehammer, we need you to disengage your Warthog. The Chief, Noble-7, and I are gonna see if we can save some soldiers."

"Roger, Cortana" the dropship flew in, dropping the M12 Warthog it had been carrying. "Saddle up and give 'em hell!"

The Master Chief hopped in the driver's seat, while Teana manned the gun. As the marines climbed aboard the Pelican, the Chief drove the Warthog down a nearby hill, approaching a clearly-artificial cave entrance.

"Okay," Cortana said, "definitely not a natural part of the terrain. And, logic dictates, if someone built it, it leads somewhere, probably through this mountain and out the other side, near where some of the lifepods landed. Let's go."

The Warthog entered the cave, driving over a few humps and bumps.

"I've hacked into the Covenant battle-net" Cortana said. "Hmph. They're actually broadcasting tactical data on unencrypted channels. We should show them exactly who they're dealing with."

The vehicle continued on, making turns and leaping over a small gap, and eventually came to a large chamber. In it, a pack of Grunts and Jackals awaited them. John splattered two Grunts with the Warthog, and Teana raked chaingun fire across some more, cutting through most of the Grunts. John hopped out, running in and taking a Jackal by surprise, the momentum of his strike knocking the alien heels-over-head. A stomp to the throat killed it. A blue-armored Elite tried to rush the Warthog, only to be cut down by the chaingun before it could get close. The Chief used his assault rifle to take down the Jackals, and then headed up a narrow ramp. When he rounded a blind corner at the top, he nearly literally ran into a red-armored Elite. He reacted faster than the alien did, snapping a left jab that stunned the Elite. He then pulled a plasma grenade from his belt, primed it, smashed it into his foe's stomach, and kicked the alien away. The grenade went off just as the alien landed several feet away, and John's shields easily withstood the blast. With the way clear, he walked along the passageway, looking for a way to extend a bridge or something across the chasm blocking their path. He soon found a glowing holo-panel, decorated by multiple circle-based symbols, a language he'd never seen before yet found strangely, hauntingly familiar. Without even knowing why, he reached out and hit a certain symbol. In response, a series of thick metal struts deployed from either side of the chasm. They began to glow at their edges, and a glowing bridge sprang into existence.

"They actually managed to make some sort of hard-light technology" Cortana said softly. "Just who built this ring, anyway?"

He made his way back to the Warthog and hopped in, cautiously driving toward the light-bridge. Teana, who had seen this sort of tech back on Midchilda (where it was actually rather commonplace, though hardly ever on this scale), ran a quick scan with Cross Mirage and then assured the Master Chief that it was safe. The Warthog rolled across the bridge, reaching the unoccupied other side of the chasm and heading into another tunnel.

"New traffic on the Covenant battle-net" Cortana said. "A lot more crew made it off the _Autumn _than I had predicted – the Captain really gave them hell! If we can find Captain Keyes and the other survivors, we have a chance to coordinate an effective guerilla resistance."

After a short while of driving, they finally reached daylight, coming out into a large, hilly area.

**Reunion Tour**

The Warthog drove up the steep hill, finding a lifepod. There were a few bloodstains, but nowhere near large enough to count for even one human bleeding to death. There weren't any dead bodies, either. There were, however, multiple sets of tracks leading away from the pod, all of them human. There was also a sniper rifle hidden partially under a nearby rock, which Teana quickly claimed. She also found two spare clips for it inside the pod's storage locker. The Chief thought that, with the sniper rifle plus a concussion rifle and her Device, she was a little over-armed for the current situation, but figured that a little too much was better than not enough. And it didn't seem to slow her down any.

After she hopped back on the gun, he hit the gas and drove the Warthog in the direction of the tracks, soon coming over a small hill and finding another local structure, a massive ball/beam of light shooting up from it and into the sky. This structure was rather large, consisting of three buildings linked by an underground system, according to Cross Mirage's seismic scan (an ability that Reach's R&D had installed in him). On the nearest structure, a red-armored Elite stood, staring off into the distance to the right (the alien's left). Teana pulled up her sniper rifle, aimed, and the Elite's thoughts were interrupted by a 14.5mm bullet passing through them. The other Covenant in the area, however, were alerted by the rifle's booming crack, and two Jackals came out to investigate. The Master Chief drove down the slope, and Teana hosed them down with the M41. They drove forward, parking next to the tallest structure, and John hopped out, using his pistol to put down several Grunts as he then worked his way up the ramp. Meanwhile, Teana turned the chaingun on a pack of Grunts exiting the other small structure. John encountered and dispatched the two Elites at the top, and then fired down at the few surviving Grunts. After the way was clear, multiple friendly contacts were detected coming up from underground. Five marines and three naval crewmen came out from the underground area, blinking their eyes a bit at the increase in brightness.

"Echo-419, this is Cortana. We have survivors and need immediate dust-off."

"Roger, Cortana. On my way. I've spotted additional lifeboats in your area: one near a rockslide, and another near the head of the river. Hard to see from my altitude, but it looks like there are more survivors. There are too many Covenant near 'em for me to just swoop in and pick them up, though."

"Roger that, Foehammer. We'll clear the area."

The Pelican touched down, and the marines and crewmen climbed aboard. John got back in the driver's seat and took off, driving over a nearby small hill and back into the first area. A pair of Jackals opened fire, the plasma bolts sizzling against the Warthog's armor. The chaingun made quick work of them. The Chief followed the river, flattening a Skirmisher on the way, and soon reached another small area, containing another emitter tower, a force of Covenant, and – up on a steep hill – five marines. The Chief drove in a bit, allowing Teana to gun down several Jackals and an Elite, and then drove up a less steep part of the hill, reaching the top and finding the marines.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Chief" a tired marine said. "We're in a bad way; we've got wounded."

"We have a dropship inbound, soldier" John replied. "But we've gotta clear out these Covvies before she can land. Think you can help us with that?"

"Hell, Chief. With two Spartans here now, I really don't think it'll take that long."

As if on cue, a Spirit flew into the area, coming to a stop on the other side of the emitter tower and dropping off its troops before flying away. Teana took position near a boulder, against which leaned a fallen marine and three more clips of sniper ammo. She tossed the Chief her concussion rifle and ammo, and then she took aim and blew the head off a blue-armored Elite. She fired again, and a bullet tore through two Grunts. The marines walked to the edge of the hill and fired down at the approaching Grunts and Jackals, killing many. Suddenly, one of them escaped death by a few centimeters, as a red-armored Elite wielding a carbine came up the slope to the right. The Chief turned and fired the concussion rifle, and a marine pitched in with his assault rifle. The alien quickly fell, one of the marines grabbing its weapon and using it to head-shot several Grunts. Soon the area was clear, and again Echo-419 swooped in, picking up its battered passengers as John & Teana hopped aboard the Warthog and drove off.

"I've picked up some news from the Covenant battle-net," Cortana said, "reports that the Covenant have located and secured the _Autumn_'s crash site. The good news is the Captain's still alive. The bad news is the Covenant have captured the entire surviving command crew. Let's hurry and find the final lifeboat, so we can link up with the rest of the survivors."

They drove on, encountering a pack of Jackals and Skirmishers standing between them and a passage through the rocks. The M41 cut them down quickly, and the Warthog drove on. Soon they encounter an area filled with massive boulders in the middle, and gunfire could be heard coming from it. To the right lay the lifepod, with a single dead crewmen lying next to it. Teana opened fire on a blue-armored Elite with the chaingun, killing it, and then John drove the Hog to just outside the boulder field. He and Teana dismounted and jogged in, finding a half-dozen marines and a navy crewman. A Spirit flew in just outside the boulder field, and the two Spartans quickly ran back to the Warthog, figuring to use its firepower to help drive off the Covenant. The M41's .50-caliber rounds tore through the pack of Grunts, while the blue-armored Elite was taken down by DMR fire from atop the tallest boulder. Another Spirit flew in, dropping off another pack of hostiles – Skirmishers this time – that met the same fate. Finally, a Phantom settled in next to the lifepod, dropping off a Ghost and a team of four red-armored Elites. Teana used the chaingun to take out the Ghost, and John rammed an Elite, crushing its torso with the Warthog's front bumper. He leapt out, firing his concussion rifle at another Elite, while Teana took on the other two, twin longswords blazing. The Chief's foe went down, a plasma shell blasting a huge hole in its chest, while Teana slice the leg off an Elite with one sword, swinging the other up at an angle to slice through its head as it fell to the ground. The Chief reloaded and fired the concussion rifle at the last Elite, stunning it and draining its shields. A sword swing decapitated it, and the area was clear.

"Echo-419, we have the last group of survivors and are ready for pickup."

"Roger, Warrant Officer. I'm on my way."

"New traffic on the Covenant battle-net" Cortana said. "I've found Captain Keyes! He's being held on a Covenant battlecruiser, the _Truth and Reconciliation_, a ship I disabled before we abandoned the _Autumn_. The battlecruiser touched down on a desert plateau roughly 300 kilometers up-spin."

The Pelican picked up the marine marksman atop the boulder and then flew down to the open area, touching down and allowing the remaining personnel, and the two Spartans, to board.

"We should move out, Foehammer," Cortana said, "and then we'll need your help on a rescue mission."

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	14. The Truth and Reconciliation

Here's Chapter 14.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Near Covenant **_**Sanghelios**_**-class Battlecruiser **_**Truth & Reconciliation**_

**September 20****th****, 2552**

**0345 hours**

The Pelican flew low through the night air, weaving between rock outcroppings as Cortana briefed the team – John, Teana, 1Sgt. Johnson, and seven marines. Teana was still fuming a little, even hours after what had happened. The absolute jerkass ODST Major Silva had openly insulted the Spartans, including her fallen partners, calling them "freaks" who "were destined by nature to die". She had absolutely blown up on the man, insubordination be damned, her enraged shouts carrying clear throughout half the base. It had taken every single ounce of her control not to rush forward and rip the man apart. And then he'd directly insulted Noble Team and made what Teana took as a veiled insult to her brother. Her lightning-fast punch had nearly caved in Silva's chest, broken rib edges sticking out through the skin of his chest, and John had needed to use every bit of his Spartan strength to physically restrain her from literally ripping him to shreds with her bare hands. The pure, hateful rage in Teana's wild eyes – the same hatred that had left TSAB Task Force 6's top mages shrinking away from her – had genuinely terrified Silva, who recognized that this girl was not just mouthing off and tossing threats, but was actually trying to kill him for what he had said. And he'd also seen the look in John's eyes, seeing that the man was barely controlling his own emotions and wrestling with the decision to just letTeana kill him. Silva had quickly vacated the office after struggling to his feet, leaving his considerably more Spartan-friendly second-in-command, Lieutenant Melissa McKay, to debrief the pair on the rescue op while he staggered to the emergency infirmary. She had expressed hope that Captain Keyes could be found, mainly because he had a great deal of respect for the Spartans and would likely keep Teana safe from any of Silva's attempted reprisals. 'Another fucking Ackerson' John had thought of the old ODST.

"The Covenant have captured Captain Keyes, and are holding him aboard one of their battlecruisers, the _Truth & Reconciliation_. The ship is currently holding position approximately 300 meters above the other end of this plateau."

The Pelican found a good landing spot and came in, the rear door opening.

"So how do we get inside the ship if it's over 1,000 feet in the air?" a marine asked. "The corps issued me a rifle, not wings or a jetpack."

"There's a gravity lift that ferries troops and supplies between the ship and the surface" Johnson replied. "_That's _our ticket in."

"Once we get inside the ship," Cortana continued, "I should be able to lock onto the tracking signal from Captain Keyes' neural implant."

The Pelican's rear ramp made contact with the ground. John & Teana activated their VISR systems, allowing them clear sight in the dark night that greeted them.

"Hit it, marines! Go, go, go!" Johnson ordered. "The corps ain't payin' us by the hour!"

"Stick to the higher ground on the right." Cortana said. "We should be able to recon the Covenant position without being spotted. I'm detecting Covenant stationary guns near the next pass. I recommend using your sniper rifle to take out the gunners while I call for marine support." She then keyed the comm. "Get ready to move in to support us, First-Sergeant. The Master Chief is going to covertly take out as many of the Covenant as he can. Don't open fire until you hear the enemy return fire on us. That should let us keep the element of surprise. Warrant Officer Lanstar will remain back with you, and will lead the charge once the Chief's cover is blown."

John moved on quietly and took up position behind the rocks, readying his SRS99C sniper rifle and checking to make sure the pack containing 16 extra clips for the rifle was secure, as was his assault rifle. He looked out, sizing up his repertoire of targets: two old-model Shades, each manned by a Grunt; four Jackals; two Skirmishers; and six other Grunts. He looked through the scope, picking his first four targets and making sure he'd be able to switch between them quickly enough after each shot. Satisfied, he fired, and a Grunt manning a Shade leaned back, the top of its head blown away. As the Covenant yelped in surprise, the other Shade was deprived of a living gunner. Next, the two Skirmishers fell, and a Grunt pointed at the rock he was peeking out from behind and yelled as the Chief ejected the spent magazine and placed another in. He clicked his comm., and in response the main attack force swept into the area. Teana fired a rifle grenade that took out three surprised Jackals, while the marines quickly took out the rest of the Covenant before they could organize a counter. John leapt down and walked over to join them, and the group moved a bit ahead, passing through a gap and entering a natural walkway bordering a cliff edge. A pair of Jackals ran down the walkway toward them, and John gunned them down with his assault rifle. The group began to move forward.

"Stop" Cortana told them suddenly. "I've detected movement up ahead. Marines, stay back for a second."

John and Teana crept forward, passing through some branches of a tree that were low enough to brush the ground, and spotted a blue-armored Elite standing atop a 10-foot rock wall, standing next to another old-model Shade. John sniped the Elite while Teana used a rifle single-shot to kill the Grunt. Two more Grunts, carrying needlers, came up around the rock from the left, and a red-armored Elite popped out from behind the rock wall to the right. Teana took down the Grunts with a pair of head-shots, and John opened fire on the Elite with his assault rifle. The marines ran up, Johnson shooting the Elite with his DMR, and soon the alien's shields gave way, a DMR bullet passing through its skull while a trio of assault rifle bullets buried themselves in its chest. The group moved on, climbing atop the mound of rock and gunning down the Grunts there. The Master Chief spotted another blue-armored Elite Minor running toward them along the next rock-ledge path, and he opened fire with the AR, firing in five-round bursts to ensure accuracy. The low-ranking alien's shields failed after 15 hits, and the next five tore through its chest. It slipped and fell, falling over the edge of the cliff.

The squad continued on, carefully making their way around the rocks, the marines hanging back as John & Teana advanced. Over their heads was the 'nose' of the _T&R_. John crept left, killing two sleeping Grunts, while Teana went right, crouch-walking in and assassinating a blue-armored Elite, burying her combat knife in its neck. She immediately looked right and fired a single shot through the head of a Grunt manning an old-model Shade, as the Master Chief killed a Jackal pair and then reached the end of his little detour, and used his sniper rifle to kill a red-armored Elite a few dozen meters away from him. Teana hopped into the Shade, opening fire on a trio of Jackals on a rock 'bridge' on the other side of the current area, and then turning it on an approaching blue-armored Elite. Johnson used his DMR to kill the Grunt manning the Shade next to the bridge.

(AN: At this point, YouTube fucks out on me, and I'm too busy to dig out my copy of Halo 1 and play it myself, so from here on out I'm running on memory (and I haven't played Halo 1 in 8 months), the Halopedia dialogue transcript for the level, and just plain making shit up)

About a minute later, a Spirit flew into the little half-canyon the group currently occupied, sweeping in and depositing its troops – five Grunts and a red-armored Elite – in a depression near the group's positions. Teana kept the gun silent until the craft flew away, and she then opened fire on the Covenant, blasting the Elite with high-power plasma bolts that burned through its shields and its torso. The Master Chief let loose on the Grunts with his assault rifle. Tia then hopped out of the gun, and the group moved on, passing underneath the bridge and reaching a narrow passage between the rocks. The Chief's VISR gave him a yellow outline to alert him to the incoming cloaked Elite, and he opened fire. The 14 rounds still in his current magazine weakened the alien's shields and forced it to de-cloak, and the marines finished it off as the Chief reloaded. They moved through, Teana throwing a grenade that killed the four sleeping Grunts and then shooting the Grunt manning the nearby turret through the head. An Elite hopped down from next to it, and fell under concentrated fire of the marines. The Chief used his sniper rifle to kill the three other turret gunners in the area, noticing that these other three Shades were the newer model. Overhead, the 1.78-kilomer-long Covenant battlecruiser, 295 meters above, filled the sky.

"Mother of God," a marine muttered. "I never thought I'd ever get this close to one of these things."

A Phantom flew overhead, dropping in on the other side of the lift and depositing a pack of Grunts. Johnson effortlessly took them out with his DMR. A group of Covenant then descended from the gravity lift, consisting of two blue-armored Elites and 10 Grunts. The Chief took out an Elite with his sniper rifle, while Teana ran to the nearest Shade and climbed in, using its guns to down the other Elite and five Grunts. The rest of the Grunts were taken out by the marines. Another batch of Covenant descended, this one made up of Jackals and Skirmishers led by a red-armored Elite. A sniper's bullet ended the Elite's life, and two more killed a pair of red-armored Skirmishers. As the Chief reloaded, Teana poured heavy plasma fire at four of the Jackals, overloading their shields and roasting them. A grenade from one of the marines killed two more Jackals and a Skirmisher, and the Master Chief used his assault rifle to take care of the rest. A third Covenant force descended, a group of Grunts and Jackals and two red-armored Elites led by a white-armored Elite Ultra. A sniper bullet punched into the Ultra's chest, making its shields flare, and a second round tore through its weakened shields and made violet blood and chunks of bone & gore shoot out the other side of the Elite's helmet. Johnson took down one of the red-armored Elites with his DMR, while the marines focused fire on the other, which dove into cover before it could be killed. Teana blasted Grunts with the Shade, and the Master Chief threw a grenade in an arc, aiming for the in-cover Elite. It landed, and the alien's just-recharged shields were drained again, the blast wave shoving him out of cover and leaving him vulnerable to a killing shot from Johnson. The Chief then picked off the remaining Grunts, while another two grenades from the troops killed the last Jackals.

After several seconds of quiet, two large shapes descended from the gravity lift: a Hunter pair. They roared, raised their guns, and fired, one shooting an explosive bolt and the other firing a burning green beam. One marine was vaporized from mid-torso up by the bolt, and the other was hit in the upper chest by the beam and sent flying backward, his chest blown open and the lower part of his skull blown away, leaving his neck spine visible from the front. By some unfortunate luck, the marine, his mouth and nose gone, his burnt eyes having fallen out, and his heart & lungs blown away, was still alive and conscious. He still knew where his weapons were, though, and immediately blindly grabbed his pistol from his holster and shot himself in the head, ending his own misery. Teana leapt out of her Shade seconds before another green explosive bolt blew it to bits. She charged in toward a Hunter, the Chief running at the other, both dodging a projectile of green death, and ran in close, rolling out of the way of the Hunters' shield strikes. The marines watched as, despite fighting different opponents over a dozen meters away from each other, the two Spartans moved in synch, pulling full-auto triggers at the same time and aiming at the same spots on the backs of their respective opponents. One Hunter swung its shield behind itself horizontally, the other swinging overhead for a hammer strike. Again the Spartans dodged, and again they fired at the same time. Soon, both Hunters toppled to the ground dead simultaneously. As they walked back over to the marines, one asked "How did you two do that?" "Do what?" they responded at the same time, and then looked at each other in mild surprise. The marine was further shocked, as this meant that the two had fought in synch _without realizing it_. Johnson just chalked it up to another Spartan thing. He turned to the marine and said "Pick your jaw up off the ground, boy, before someone steps on it."

"This is Echo-419 to ground team" Foehammer radioed. "Is the LZ clear?"

"Affirmative, Foehammer" Cortana responded. "The LZ is clear for you to fly in, pick up the ground team, and drop off the boarding team."

"Roger, Cortana. Coming in."

The Pelican flew in, stopping next to the squad. Six ODSTs disembarked from the dropship, and 1Sgt. Johnson & his marines climbed aboard the craft. The eight-strong group moved into the gravity lift's beam, taking position around the center of the massive metal base.

"Once we're inside the ship," Cortana explained, "I can home in on the Captain's command neural interface implant. He'll most likely be in or near the ship's brig, which should narrow our search.

**In The Belly Of The Beast**

One by one, the team was lifted up off the ground and rapidly rose straight up through the air, heading for the ship (one ODST cried "Yeeha!"). After everyone was aboard, the circular door closed beneath them, and they dropped four inches to the ground. "I've got a good lock on the Captain's CNI transponder" Cortana said. "No Covenant defenses detected."

"What? No Covenant?" an ODST said. "Maybe nobody's home…"

Right on cue, a door slid open, and a red-armored Elite with a sword rushed in. He was cut down quickly by John & Teana. The other doors began to slide open.

"Contacts! Lots of contacts!"

"'No Covenant'. You just _had _to open your fucking mouth!"

The team immediately opened fire in all directions, each one focusing on a target. John & Teana focused on the Elites and Skirmishers, while the ODSTs let loose on the Grunts and Jackals. After a few waves, a nearby large door slid open, revealing a pair of Jackal marksmen. One fired a needle rifle shot at an ODST, but the shot bounced off the trooper's reinforced thick titanium chestplate. Teana used two rifle single-shots to kill them. The team ran through the door and down the hallway, but soon reached a locked door.

"I can't bypass it, sir" one trooper said.

"We can use the side passages to find a way around" Cortana said.

"We'd be sitting ducks in those narrow spaces" the ODST Sergeant said. "We can hold this position if you two can find a way around and open the door from the other side."

John & Teana backtracked into the grav-lift room and then went through the door to their immediate right, following the corridor. Two spaced-out Grunts were dealt with, and soon they reached another large room. They were on the upper level, overlooking a room containing four Grunts, a Jackal, and an unoccupied Ghost. They moved to the other side of the room, entering another corridor and following it down to the first floor, silently killing a Jackal halfway down. They entered the room again, and on the count of three opened fire on the Grunts, taking them down. The Jackal spun around and tried to shoot, but was killed before it could raise its shield. The Chief walked over to the door control and hit a button on the display; the door slid open, and the ODSTs piled in. A door on the other side of the room opened, and a trooper carrying a DMR quickly snapped it up to his shoulder and fired three shots, killing the trio of Grunts before they could even see who was shooting them. Following Cortana's direction, the squad moved toward that door.

"Everyone stay cool" a trooper said. "Yell if you see anything."

The team moved through several corridors, dealing with Grunts and Jackals as they went, and soon reached a hangar, coming in on the bottom floor. A snipe-shot from the Master Chief killed the lone blue Elite on the lower floor, and he then aimed up at the top of the huge wall that divided the hangar into two halves, shooting a red-armored Elite and the Grunt manning an old-model Shade. Teana and the ODSTs gunned down the Grunts and Jackals. Another dozen enemies came from the door to the right and from the door that the group had entered from; the Master Chief used his assault rifle to kill the blue-armored Elite, while everyone else took out the Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers. The squad then moved past the room divider to the other side of the hangar, engaging more hostiles there and clearing them out. They checked a few doors, to no avail.

"Hey, which way should we go now?" a trooper asked. "All the doors on this level are locked."

"Wait a moment" Cortana responded. "I'm going to access the Covenant battle-net and locate an override code to open a door."

The doors on the other side of the hangar opened, and several Covenant came through, heading for the humans' side of the hangar.

"Better hurry, Cortana. We can't hold them off forever."

"Working on it." The Chief then heard her rather annoyed voice muttering "I'd like to see _you _crack a 128,000-bit modulating encryption key…"

Teana fired a rifle grenade into the approaching enemy group, killing four Grunts. The ODST Sergeant with a DMR opened fire on a blue-armored Elite, who was unable to get to cover and was killed. The Skirmishers ran into the room, plasma pistols firing; Teana took one down with a single-shot from Mirage Rifle, while another was caught in an ODST's assault rifle fire. The next two minutes were a somewhat hectic firefight, and one of the ODSTs got grazed by a needle rifle shot, though it did not stick into him and thus did not detonate in his arm. After the last Elite fell, a door behind them in the corner opened, and two Hunters strode out, the door resealing behind them. An ODST tossed a grenade, and it went off at their feet, stunning and lightly injuring them. They roared and fired, their guns in beam configuration. Teana ducked under a sweeping beam, her shields flaring from the heat, and fired a rifle grenade. The explosive hit a Hunter in the 'face', and orange blood splattered to the ground. The wounded beast stepped forward and returned fire, its movements noticeably slower now. Teana ran towards it diagonally, palming a frag grenade. She rolled under its swipe and between its legs, coming up to her feet behind it. Before it could react, she punched into the Lekgolo colony, triggered the grenade, and pulled her hand out of the creature. She backpedaled, and the explosive tore the Hunter apart from the inside. The other Hunter roared in fury, turning to face her… and exposing its back to massed fire from the Chief and the ODSTs. The Hunter barely realized its fatal mistake before it went down, hitting the deck with a _thud_.

"Got it!" Cortana said as a door on the left opened. "Everyone should move through now. I can't guarantee it won't lock again when it closes."

The team moved through the door, which sealed tight behind them. The team fought their way up through the corridors, reaching the second floor of the hangar. The old-model Shade was now occupied by an Elite, who was promptly sniped by the Chief, and the squad hurried across the room, gunning down a surprised pack of Jackals inside their next door. Up another level, and they reached the top floor of the hangar. They crossed again, Teana gunning down a trio of suicide Grunts near their exit, and then fought off a small attack wave from behind them, killing an Elite Major. They went through their next door, passing through another few hallways and soon reaching the Bridge.

Orna 'Fulsamee, Ship-Master of the _Truth and Reconciliation_, stood in the center of the command podium, looking at the holo-screens displaying the devastation. He snarled in disgust. Unlike the vast majority of his people, he was one of the very few Sangheili who still saw the humans for the disgusting, worthless insects that they were, rather than the noble, capable, worthy opponents that almost all the other Sangheili saw them as. He had worked long and hard to put together a command crew of like-minded Sangheili, and it had taken him the better part of a year to find even three such individuals of proper rank, but now here he stood with them at his side, waiting for the vermin to dare and try to rescue their ship-master, the heretic who dared defile the Sacred Ring with his humans' blasphemous presence. His mood was slightly soured by the knowledge that Thel 'Vadamee, another human-respecter, was the Fleet-Master in command of the battle-group currently stationed near the Sacred Ring _and _had been in command of the armada sent to burn the vermin's wretched planet "Reech", but the possibility of slaughtering two of the Demons lifted his spirits a little. He barely heard the door behind him and to his left slide open, but was broken from his reverie by a human grenade going off, scattering luminescent blue Unggoy blood across the control room's floor. The deep bass cracks of human weapons filled his ears, and he spun about to see the two Demons leading a squad of the humans' special-ops shock troopers. He made the Sangheili equivalent of an evil smirk, ignited his plasma sword, and leapt into the fray.

The nearest Elite Ultra was quickly taken down by massed fire, and the far one was dealt with by two shots from the Chief's sniper rifle. Suddenly, a gold-armored Elite, plasma sword blazing, ran toward them. Teana switched Cross Mirage to Longsword Mode and charged to meet him, blades locking, and an epic swordfight ensued. Another squad of Grunts led by a red-armored Elite entered through the far door, and the ODSTs and the Master Chief rose to the challenge. After dealing with these intruders and a pack of Jackals from another door, they turned to watch the spectacle as the two combatants behind them fought with a speed and skill rarely seen.

Fulsamee was furious. The small Demon not only dared to learn the art of proper swordsmanship – something only the glorious Sangheili deserved to know – but she was matching him blow for blow, using her smaller size and greater speed to her advantage while still possessing the strength to successfully block and parry his blows. Some part of his mind recognized a natural when he saw one, but his lifelong religious indoctrination prevented him from accepting the skill that matched his. His increasing anger began to almost-imperceptibly-slowly affect his sword skills in a negative manner, and his multiple aggressive attempts to batter her into submission were gradually draining his energy. Teana scored a lucky strike, shearing through his shields and hitting the shield generator, leaving him with only his armor and blade to protect him. He pressed forward in a rage, and Teana saw a split-second opening. She took it, spearing Cross Mirage's blade through the center of his torso. The Elite looked at her in horrified shock, refusing to accept that a human had just bested him. Any further thoughts were cut short as she cleaved upward and to the right, slicing up through his torso with the blade exiting at the edge of his neck. He fell to the floor, and the last thing he saw was Teana's downward stab toward his head.

Teana deactivated her energy sword, panting for breath, and her attention was grabbed by the sound of applause. She looked right, and saw the ODSTs clapping, a few saying words of congratulations. She blushed lightly and waved back.

"In all my 18 years of service," the Sergeant said, "that was undoubtedly one of themost badass things I've ever seen."

"Man, my eyes could barely keep up with either of you" a younger member of the squad said. John silently nodded his head in agreement; Teana may not have been the strongest, smartest, fastest, or toughest of the Spartans, nor was she the best in tracking, marksmanship, or the like, but there was no doubt that none of the others could handle a sword like she could. She walked over to the group, switching Cross Mirage back to Rifle Mode.

"The Captain's transponder signal is strong" Cortana suddenly said. "He must be getting close."

The ODSTs walked over to the command podium, setting up shop. "This looks like a good spot, Spartans" the Sergeant said. "We'll mind the store here until you two get back with the Captain. Good luck."

The two Spartans moved through the door on the far left, hanging a left and following a corridor. At a zig-zag part up ahead, a pack of five Grunts were caught off-guard and gunned down by assault rifle fire. A few more corners and a few more Grunts (and some Jackals), and they reached a brig. Unfortunately, it was empty. So they moved on, soon coming out at one end of a long corridor. At the other end, two Jackals were walking toward each other. The Master Chief got down to one knee, peered through the sniper rifle's scope, and waited. When they were lined up, he fired, and the bullet tore through one Jackal's upper back and the other's neck, taking them both down. They moved down the hall, turning right into another brig. Five holding cells were active, and a trio of Elites – a General and two Spec-Ops – stood guard. The two black-armored Elites faded from view as their active camouflage kicked in, and the red-and-gold-armored Elite General hefted a plasma launcher, firing three shots at the Spartans. John & Teana rolled to either side, turning their assault rifles on the approaching stealth Elites. They fired at the shimmers of air, and the two Elites soon fell. Another two plasma launcher shots were dodged, and the Chief shouldered his sniper rifle. Three shots took down the Elite's shields, and a fourth blew its skull out.

"That was _awesome_, sir!" a prisoner shouted.

"Stow it, Corporal" came the voice of Captain Keyes from the far left cell. "Chief, Noble-7, open these cells, and let's get the hell out of here. The power control's along the back wall."

John walked up to a holo-panel and hit the central icon, then strolled over to the Captain's cell as its containment field lowered. He held out a hand to the Captain, helping him to his feet.

"Coming here was reckless" Keyes said. "You three know better than this. …Thanks."

The group gathered in the center of the room, the other prisoners scavenging weapons from the fallen Covenant.

"While the Covenant had us locked up in here," Keyes continued, "I overheard the guards talking about this ringworld. They call it Halo."

"One moment, sir" Cortana said over the Chief's armor's external speakers. "Accessing the Covenant battle-net." A pause. "According to the data in their networks, the ring has some kind of deep religious significance. If I'm reading this correctly – and with the Covenant language, I can't be 100% sure, but I'm pretty confident – they believe that Halo is some sort of weapon, one with vast, unimaginable power."

"And if it's true…" Keyes mused. "The Elites kept saying that 'whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the galaxy'."

"Now I see…" Cortana continued. "I have intercepted a number of messages about a Covenant search team, scouting for a 'control room'. I thought they were looking for the ejected bridge of a cruiser I damaged during a battle above the ring, but they must actually be looking for _Halo's _control room."

"That's bad news. If Halo _is _a weapon, and if the Covenant gain control of it, they'll definitely use it against us, and tip the odds even further in their favor against the UNSC. Chief, Cortana, Warrant Officer, I have a new mission for you: we need to beat the Covenant to Halo's control room."

"Sir," Teana responded, "it might be wise to finish _this _mission before planning our next one."

"Fair enough" Keyes said. He bent down and picked up a needler. "Chief, you have point."

**Shut Up And Get Behind Me… Sir**

Teana grabbed the plasma launcher, which still had 55% charge left, letting it attach to her back thanks to her suit's selective magnetic system, and formed up with the group. The doors to the brig opened, and two black-armored Elites charged in. The humans took them down before they could even engage their active camouflage, and the filed out the door.

"How do we find our way out?" a marine asked.

"Follow the bodies" the Master Chief responded.

Indeed, this was exactly what they ended up doing. They encountered surprisingly light resistance, which quickly crumpled under their rolling assault. Eventually they reached the bridge. When the door slid open, John spotted the ever-so-slight shimmers of air; two cloaked Elites were trying to sneak up on the semi-relaxed ODST team on the command podium. He fired his sniper rifle at the farthest one, and it keeled over. This caught the troopers' attention, and they saw the alien's body appear from thin air and fall to the ground. The other Elite charged them, hoping to score at least one kill, but its shields failed to withstand the assault that the troopers poured into it, and it collapsed dead less than two feet from the central podium. The Spartans and the Captain walked in, the three marines and two naval crewmen following them, and the ODSTs saluted their CO.

"Cortana to Echo-419. We have the Captain and need extraction on the double."

"Negative, Cortana. I've been engaged by Covenant air patrols, and I'm havin' a tough time shakin' 'em. You'll be better off findin' your own ride… sorry."

"Air support is cut off, Captain. We need to hold here until she can move in."

"Aw, shit!" a crewman began to panic. "We're trapped on this thing! We're fucked, man!"

"Quit yer bitching, man" an ODST snapped. "We ain't dead yet!"

"Cortana," Keyes said, "if we can get into one of those Covenant dropships, I can fly us out of here."

"Yes, Captain. There's a Spirit still docked."

"Then let's move."

They made their way through a few corridors, finding their way back to the third floor of the hangar. They fought across the walkway, the Chief thinning the approaching ranks with his sniper rifle, and entering another corridor to take them down to the second floor. On the way, a red-armored Elite met a grisly end as Keyes stuck eight needler rounds in its torso, and the resulting super-combine explosion tore its chest open. They soon reached the second floor, and Teana fired two plasma launcher blasts at an unsuspecting Elite Ultra, killing it; also, a wave of Grunts charged in, and was quickly cut down. The Master Chief hit a button on a nearby display, and the Spirit bobbed free, the door opening and lowering for the humans to board. The group piled in, Keyes making his way to the cockpit.

"Give me a minute to interface with the ship's controls" Cortana said.

"No need" Keyes replied. "I'll take this overgrown tuning fork out myself."

Suddenly, a Hunter pair emerged from a door on the third floor, taking position and preparing to open fire. "Time for a little payback" Keyes muttered, as he flew the Spirit forward. The Hunters were tough, but there was no hope of surviving a 245-ton dropship smashing its prong-tips into them at 70 miles per hour. Their way clear, the captured Spirit flew out of the hangar and soared off into the night.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	15. The Silent Cartographer

Here's Chapter 15.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Cartographer Island**

**September 20****th****, 2552**

**1350 hours**

The two Pelican dropships flew in toward the island, Bravo-022 leisurely swinging back and forth through the air as it followed Echo-419. John sat in the forward craft, while Teana gazed out at the ocean from the following ship's open rear door.

"The Covenant believe" Cortana briefed "that what they call 'the Silent Cartographer' is somewhere under this island. The Cartographer is a map room that will lead us to Halo's control center. The island has multiples structures and installations; one of them contains the map room."

"We're approaching the LZ" Foehammer said. "It's gonna be hot!" The craft 'spun', its rear facing the surprised Covenant, and hovered six inches above the sand. "Touchdown! Hit it, marines!"

As Echo-419's troops disembarked and opened fire, Bravo-022 spotted an Elite and small force of Skirmishers trading fire with Echo's troops, nailing one marine through the head. Bravo's response was to move a bit further in and then land _on top of _the Elite and Skirmishers, and Teana led the craft's troops out into the beach, gunning down Grunts. The two dropships flew off, Bravo briefly skimming its bottom along the water to wash off sand and blood, and then rising up into the air and following Echo. The force of two Spartans and 11 marines continued up the beach, encountering a trio of Jackals and two Elites, one blue and one red. A frag grenade from the Chief killed the Jackals, and massed fire from Teana and the marines took down the red-armored Elite. The Master Chief used his assault rifle to take down the blue-armored Elite. Even faster than they'd hoped for, the beach was already secure.

"Cortana to Echo-419: LZ is clear, Foehammer."

"Affirmative. Echo-419 inbound. Somebody order a Warthog?"

"Hey, I didn't know you made house calls, Foehammer" a Sergeant joked.

"You know our motto: We Deliver".

The dropship swooped in, stopping to hover dozen meters over the beach, and release the Warthog, which bounced when it landed. The Chief got in the driver's seat, while Teana manned the gun and a marine rode shotgun. The vehicle started up and drove forward, hanging a left around a rock wall and reaching another section of the island. Up ahead, milling about on the slope of a ramp/hill, was a pack of Grunts. The M41 chaingun roared, and soon the ramp/hill was covered by Grunt giblets. The Warthog drove up the slope, reaching another area. To the left was a local structure, with a force of Jackals mulling near the entrance. A Phantom flew away from the structure, and a clutch of Grunts waddled from it into the building.

"They're already inside!" Cortana said. "We need to get in there quick, before they discover the location of Halo's control center!"

The Warthog drove onto metal, the chaingun ripping through the Jackals standing guard, and the Chief parked the vehicle in front of the entrance in a way that Teana would have a clear shot inside. He hopped out and went low, letting the smaller Spartan and her chaingun do the heavy lifting. Blue blood quickly covered the floor, and an Elite farther down was stunned by some shots from John's pistol, leaving it unable to escape the big gun's fire. The Chief ran further in, encountering two more red-armored Elites behind a wall, out of the gun's field of fire. He stuck one with a plasma grenade, and entered a full-auto assault rifle vs. plasma rifle gun duel, which he won just as his shields collapsed.

"The Covenant are putting up a real fight" Cortana said. "The Cartographer _must _be here. My analysis indicates that the map room should be at the bottom of this facility. Let's keep going inside."

The Chief walked down a narrow ramp, finding a small room populated by Grunts, and on the other side of an open door stood a gold-armored Elite Zealot. He tossed a frag grenade, killing the Grunts, and ran for the door. Too late; the door snapped shut, and the Elite looked at him through the small transparent part of the door, giving the Sangheili equivalent of a mean-spirited grin… or perhaps the Sangheili equivalent of sticking his tongue out at the Chief and going "nyah-nyah". The Chief glared at him, but he kept his visor polarized so the Elite wouldn't have the pleasure of knowing it had irked him.

"Interesting…" Cortana said. "I underestimated the Covenant's understanding of Halo's subsystems. We don't have the firepower to get through this locked door. Cortana to Keyes."

"Go ahead, Cortana" the Captain's voice came over the comm. "Have you found the control center."

"Negative, Captain. The Covenant have impeded our progress. We can't proceed unless we can disable this island's security system."

"Understood. We're still en route to our objective, and I may be out of contact when we get there. I want you to use any means necessary to force your way into the facility and find Halo's control center. We have to get to the center before the Covenant, and failure, people, is not an option."

"Echo-419 to ground teams" Foehammer's voice cut in. "I'll stay on station and keep an eye out for Covvie bogeys."

"Second Squad ready to roll!" a marine sergeant said. "As soon as everybody's topside!"

"Good luck, people. Keyes out."

"We'll need to find a security override" Cortana said. The Chief turned and walked away, heading up the ramp (the Elite was mildly disappointed that the human hadn't shown any reaction to this little obstacle, having expected some show of anger). He headed up the ramps and back out to the Warthog, and explained the situation.

"Maybe there's a path to the island's interior somewhere" Teana suggested.

"I saw something that looked like just that when we were flying in" Cortana replied. "Let's try it."

The Warthog made a u-turn and reached a slope, following it down to the lower area of the island, and drove on. It soon reached another area, where they indeed found a slope, with several trees, that looked like it led up into the center area of the island. A few Grunts mulled about, and were cut down by the Warthog's gun before they could return fire. The trio disembarked, the marine following the Spartans up the slope, DMR ready. They ran into a few Jackals, quickly disposed of, and soon reached an area containing a massive circular metal thing with a small tower in the center. A pair of Hunters stood guard; they had not yet noticed the three humans. Chief threw a plasma grenade at the nearest one, sticking it on the back of the 'head'. The grenade went off, and the Lekgolo colony barely maintained cohesion. The wounded beast slowly turned to fire, while its uninjured 'brother' reacted much quicker, aiming its gun and firing an explosive bolt. The shot missed, hitting a young tree which then toppled. Teana charged in, Cross Mirage in dual pistol mode, and ran for the far Hunter. The Chief backed her up, tossing a frag grenade ahead of her to stun the beast. The wounded Hunter turned to face the small Spartan as it passed her, inadvertently exposing its vulnerable back to the marine. He fired several shots from his DMR, which was enough to finish off the injured Hunter, and it toppled. The other Hunter roared in response, firing its weapon in beam configuration. It briefly grazed Teana's shields, enough to drain them down to 10%, the shrill alarm beeping in her ears. She ran behind it, opening fire on its back with both pistols. John took potshots with his assault rifle, trying to aim around the shield and hit the Hunter's 'face' and/or 'stomach'. After about a minute of dodging and shooting, they eventually whittled down the creature's health, and it finally keeled over. The marine ran up to join them.

The next area contained a blue-armored Elite, three Jackals, and six Grunts. DMR shots from the marine took out four of the Grunts, while Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode and fired at the Elite, and the Master Chief threw a grenade at two of the Jackals, killing them. The Elite went down, and a rifle grenade killed two more Grunts. The Jackal tried to flee, but a pistol shot from the Chief took it down. The trio moved on, reaching another structure guarded by five Grunts. The Chief used his assault rifle to kill them, and they moved in. They came to a room dominated by Covenant storage crates, and from the other end came another pair of Hunters. The marine ducked behind a crate, as the Spartans moved in, trying to flank the huge pair. Each Spartan picked a Hunter and dove behind it, opening fire on full auto, causing orange blood to stain the floor. The Hunters roared and spun, firing green beams, and the Spartans dodged, firing at the aliens' 'faces' and causing them to duck behind their shields. John & Teana quickly dashed around them, continuing to fire at their unprotected backs, and the Hunters continued to take damage. Soon, one fell as the two Spartans combined fire, and the other roared and turned to face them. Suddenly, a shot rang out, and the marine's DMR took down the heavily injured Hunter. He came out of cover and ran to join the Spartans. They moved further into the facility, finding a terminal beneath a bizarre hologram. Teana moved in and hit the central holo-button. The hologram flashed in a few spots in response.

"Good" Cortana said. "That should open the door that leads into the main shaft."

**It's Quiet…**

As the trio turned and headed for the exit, a panicked voice came over the radio.

"Mayday, mayday! Bravo-22 taking heavy fire! Repeat! We are under heavy fire and are losing altitude!"

They rushed forward, reaching the storage room, and the marine took a plasma bolt between the eyes from out of nowhere, collapsing in a heap. John & Teana activated their VISRs and opened fire on the cloaked Elites, who were too caught off-guard from being spotted to react in time, and were killed. The Spartans ran outside, reaching the cliff edge and looking down. Below, next to a rock formation, lay the smoking wreck of Bravo-22. Human bodies were strewn about near it, and a trio of Jackals meandered about.

"Bravo-22 was bringing us some heavy weapons" Cortana said. "After I saw we were up against Hunters, I felt we could use them. Let's move down the beach; keep an eye out for any cargo we can salvage."

The two backtracked, soon reaching the circular central area to find it occupied by four Skirmishers. Two went down quickly with headshots, but the other two began to run about, deliberately making it hard to hit them. Teana managed to hit one in the leg, and it face-planted, leaving it vulnerable to a killing shot. John fired his assault rifle into the path of the other, and it promptly ran into the bullets' path, taking fatal hits and collapsing. They moved on, the Chief stocking up on ammo at a marine's fallen corpse, and reached the Warthog. They drove on, reaching the Pelican's crash site, and Teana used the chaingun to mow down the Jackals. They hopped out to inspect the wreckage, finding a rocket launcher and two extra pairs of rockets. Teana grabbed said weapon & ammo, and then the pair hopped back in the Warthog. They drove to and through the initial LZ, passing the marines, and made their way back to the main entrance to the underground facility. This time, they found a pair of Hunters guarding the entrance. They disembarked, sneaking their way up. One of the Hunters, the one closest to them, had its back turned to them. Teana punished it for its lack of proper security protocol by firing two rockets at it. Both explosives hit its vulnerable back, killing it. The other roared and fired an explosive bolt. The shot missed, smashing into the boulder the Spartans hid behind, and John leapt out and rushed forward as Teana reloaded the launcher. He reached the Hunter, ducking under a shield strike and planting a grenade at the alien's feet. The explosive wounded the beast, and it swung again, and then tried a point-blank cannon shot. The Chief ducked, the green bolt screaming over his head, the radiant heat draining his shields by one-third. Teana rushed in, firing Mirage Rifle at the creature's back, and then firing a 40mm grenade at it. The projectile detonated on contact, injuring the Hunter further. John pulled a bullfight maneuver, getting behind the Hunter, and fired his HE pistol. Five exploding .45-caliber shots finished it off.

They moved into the structure, soon reaching the now-open door. They passed right, reaching a small platform overlooking a deep, dark pit. The Chief kicked a rock down, and waited several seconds; the rock could not be heard hitting the bottom.

**Shafted**

They moved in, finding a red-armored Elite standing at a Covenant computer. The Chief silently crept up and snapped its neck, and dragged the body into a shadowed corner. He and Teana then walked up the ramp, taking cover in a small spot that just barely hid them from view of the patrolling Grunts. Teana summoned a silencer on her rifle's tip. A Grunt slowly walked over and came into view, and the Chief immediately yanked it close and snapped its neck, letting it drop to the floor behind him. He did the same for another Grunt, and then the two Spartans crouch-walked across the walkway and took cover behind a metal support beam. Another Grunt met its silent end, being placed in the nearby corner, and the two looked down to see who was left: a blue-armored Elite and two Grunts. The Chief leapt, landing atop the Elite's back and driving his knife into its skull. As the Grunts turned around, two _fwip _sounds came as Teana took them down. She leapt down, joining the Chief, and they headed for the next small door. They ducked into cover as it opened, and a Jackal strolled out. It spotted the bodies and was about to call out when Teana grabbed its neck and twisted, and the body fell to the floor. She then dashed through the door into the room containing a walkway winding down the outside edge of the room, finding another Jackal. She reached out, crushed its throat so it couldn't scream, and threw it down the shaft. She and the Chief moved down, reaching the next level. The area looked clear, but in a nearby area overlooking the chasm lay three marines, all dead. The pair walked over, and the Chief picked up a fully-loaded shotgun and 12 extra shells.

They headed into the main area of the room, and ran into a Hunter pair, who spotted them. So much for stealth. The Chief ran in, dodging an explosive bolt and rolling behind the first Hunter. He pointed his shotgun and fired, tearing into the alien's vulnerable lower back. Three up-close shells, and the beast collapsed. The other roared and fired, and Teana dashed in, activating her rifle's energy bayonet. She ducked beneath a shield swipe, and sliced at the Hunter's stomach, the superheated blade searing 'flesh' and causing the creature to groan. John rushed in, unloading two more shotgun blasts at its 'face'. Teana jammed the bayonet hilt-deep into the Hunter's back and then slashed to the side, nearly cutting the alien in half. It stumbled to its knees, struggling to hold itself together. John put the shotgun barrel to the alien's 'face' and pulled the trigger. He stepped around the corpse as it fell, reloading his shotgun, and the two moved down another level. When they reached the next level, Foehammer's voice came over the comm.

"Foehammer to ground teams: you've got enemy dropships coming in fast!"

"Damnit!" the beach Sergeant cursed. "Okay, people, we got company comin'. Let's set the table; engage enemy forces on sight!"

"It'll be easier to hold them off from inside the structure" Cortana radioed. "Can you get inside?"

"Negative; they're closin' in too fast! Chief, you gotta find the Cartographer! We'll keep 'em busy as long as we can!"

"Give 'em hell, marine" Cortana said solemnly, and the comm. cut out. "We'll be in a tight spot if we don't get out of here before additional enemy reinforcements arrive. Let's find that map ASAP."

They reached a two-leveled room, finding a trio of Skirmishers that fell quickly. They hopped down to the lower level, entering another square-shaped room with a downward-going ramp. At the next level, they found two patrolling Grunts – easily dealt with – and a number of sleeping ones, whose sleep was quickly made permanent. They went followed a walkway bordering a near-bottomless drop, and soon entered the Cartographer. Two red-armored Elites stood guard, and the Chief quickly rushed in and took them both down with his shotgun. The pair walked up to a hologram of the ringworld, and the Chief hit the button. The hologram spun once, and then broke into sections, each one with a line of text pointing to it.

"Analyzing…" Cortana scanned the hologram, finding the similarities of the text to Covenant written language and guessing based on that. "Halo's control center is… here" their HUDs highlighted a certain spot on the map. "That structure appears to be some sort of temple or shrine if I've interpreted this correctly. …Interesting. A shrine is an unlikely place to put such a significant installation". She then triggered the comm. "Cortana to Captain Keyes."

"The Captain has dropped out of contact, Cortana" Foehammer's voice replied. "His ship may be out of range, or having equipment problems."

"Keep trying. Let me know when you've reestablished contact, and then tell him that the Master Chief, Noble-7, and I have determined the location of the control center. We'll be heading there as soon as we're topside."

"Affirmative. Foehammer out."

The two Spartans started making their way back up toward the surface. When they reached Level 3, however, they found a blue-armored Elite and a half-dozen Grunts. The Master Chief fired his assault rifle at the Elite, while Teana dealt with the Grunts. When the way was clear, they continued upward, sending a pair of Jackals plummeting to their deaths in the ramp room. On level two, they found a red-armored Elite and some Jackals. A shotgun blast took care of the former, and a couple of 40mm grenades took out the latter. At the upper room, a white-armored Elite Ultra and two forearm-shield-equipped Skirmishers opened fire. Teana's shields absorbed the Skirmishers' carbine shots, and she dived out of the way of the Elite's concussion rifle. She fired on full-auto at the nearest Skirmisher, taking it down, and John used his pistol to kill the other one, and then ran in and fired his shotgun at the Elite. Three shots took down its shields, and a fourth killed it. Just then, the gold-armored Elite Zealot from earlier rushed in. Teana readied the rocket launcher and fired. The first rocket blew through its shields and knocked it backward; the second blew it to bits. The two Spartans moved on, walking up two final ramps and reaching the entrance hall. A trio of cloaked Elites opened fire with plasma repeaters. A rocket killed one, a shotgun blast killed another, and the last was bayoneted through the chest. Finally, the duo reached daylight.

"Cortana to Echo-419. We're topside; requesting pickup."

"Roger. On my way."

Several seconds later, the Pelican swooped in, stopping to allow the Spartans to climb aboard.

"Let's get moving, Foehammer" Cortana said. "Here are coordinates and a flight plan I've worked out."

As the bird lifted off…

"…Uh, Cortana? These coordinates are underground."

"The Covenant did a thorough seismic scan. My analysis of the data shows that Halo is honeycombed with deep tunnels that circle the whole ring."

The Pelican hovered over the center of the island, and the circular area slid open, revealing a large tunnel.

"I hope your analysis is on-the-money, Cortana. This Pelican won't turn on a dime."

The dropship lowered into the tunnel, and the hatch slowly began to close above them.

"Look on the bright side, Foehammer: the last thing the Covenant will expect is an aerial insertion from underground."

The hatch slid shut, plunging the tunnel into darkness.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	16. Assault On The Control Room

Here's Chapter 16. Found a YouTube walkthrough for accuracy. I will, of course, take _some _liberties.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Subterranean network underneath the Tundra Zone**

**September 20****th****, 2552**

**17:40 hours**

**I Would Have Been Your Daddy…**

Ubdup the Unggoy liked this job. No being pushed around by those high-and-mighty Kig-Yar. No being sent to die against the humans as an ammunition sponge. Just a nice, quiet, sleepy little guard post in a subterranean area of Halo, with no humans. This was the life. This train of thought lasted until he heard a sudden noise from below. He turned to look at the deep chasm that made up part of Halo's internal workings, and from it rose a human dropship, less than 20 feet away and 'looking' right at him. The pilot waved. He screamed and ran as fast as his stubby legs could carry him, the other Grunts waking up and following suit

"This is as far as I can go" Foehammer said.

"Roger that" Cortana replied. "We can find our way to the control center from here."

"Good luck."

The Pelican swung around and opened its back door, depositing John & Teana. The latter had left the one-rocket-left launcher in the dropship, but the former still had his shotgun and 6 extra shells. The Chief quickly ran for a nearby newer-model Shade, turning it to face the door just as a blue-armored Elite ran out. He opened fire with the heavy turret's plasma cannons, quickly cutting the alien down. Teana fired a rifle grenade through the still-open door at the Grunts just inside, killing all four (poor Ubdup…). The Chief got out of the turret, and the two Spartans moved through the door and down a tall hallway. They entered a circular room, and came out behind a patrolling Elite Minor. A blow to the back of the head took it out. They moved on counterclockwise, and their cover was blown when a pair of Jackals spotted them and opened fire. A pack of Grunts came out from the central area of the room, adding their fire to the attack. The two Spartans opened fire with their rifles on full auto, mowing down the hostiles. One tried to leap onto John's back from behind, but he grabbed it and threw it over his shoulder into the wall, killing it. The room was clear.

"The Covenant are putting up quite a fight" Cortana said. "The Cartographer _must _be here."

The pair moved on, passing through another hallway, and came out onto a bridge. One thing caught their attention quickly: it was snowing.

"Interesting" Cortana muttered. "The weather patterns here seem natural, not artificial. I wonder if the ring's environment systems are malfunctioning… or if the designers _wanted _the installation to have inclement weather."

John & Teana moved quietly onto the bridge, assassinating a few sleeping Grunts. All pretext of stealth, however, vanished when a Pelican flew overhead, less than 50 meters above the bridge.

"This is Fireteam Zulu," a voice came over the radio, "requesting immediate assistance from any UNSC forces. Does anyone copy, over?"

"I didn't think there were any human forces left on this part of the ring" Cortana said. "Fireteam Zulu, this is UNSC AI Cortana. Spartans 117 and D001 are with me. Hang tight; we're on our way."

"Roger that. Make it quick."

The two Spartans started making their way across the bridge, gunning down Grunts and an Elite Minor, some of whom emerged from the bridge's lower levels. At the other side were two Shade turrets; a pair of rifle grenades from Teana took care of their operators. From behind the metal structure blocking view of the door came an Elite General, carrying a fuel rod gun. He opened fire, and they rolled out of the way, a near-miss causing John's shields to flare. He rushed in, dodging another shot, and fired his shotgun. Three shots took the Elite's shields down, and a fourth blew its head off. The fuel rod gun turned out to be an older model with a dead-man's switch, and John quickly hurled it over the edge of the bridge; it exploded a second and a half later. They moved through another hallway, reaching another circular room, and went left. A few Grunts went down easy enough, but the cloaked Elite with dual plasma rifles was a bit more of a challenge. Nonetheless, a rifle grenade to the face stunned it and weakened its shields, and a shotgun blast finished it off, taking John down to seven shells including the five currently in his M90. They moved forward, finding a pair of dead UNSC marines and stocking up on frag grenades, and John also scavenged ammo for his pistol and his assault rifle. They reached a small, narrow corridor and followed it to an elevator.

At the bottom of the elevator ride, they exited and found another circular area, populated by sleeping Grunts. They quickly and silently made their way through, assassinating sleeping Grunts and an unwary Elite as they went, and finally reached a hallway that led outside. The marines were across the current plain of snow, near an overturned Warthog. Nearby to the left, a Shade fired on them, as did another farther off to the right atop a boulder. Farther right, a Wraith lobbed a plasma mortar at the marines; it missed and partially vaporized a tree. The Chief used his pistol to kill the nearby Shade's gunner, and hopped in, opening fire on the other heavy turret and killing its operator. He dismounted, and he & Teana ran toward the marines. Seconds later, the turret they'd just vacated was obliterated by the Wraith. A Ghost rode in and started shooting at the Spartans. Teana threw a plasma grenade; it stuck to the craft's front cowling, and the rider bailed just before the grenade went off, destroying the vehicle. The red-armored Elite roared and opened fire with his needler; the Spartans dodged and returned fire with their full-auto rifles, the combined assault quickly bringing the alien down.

The Spartans ran over to the marines, dispatching a Skirmisher on the way, and John went over to the Warthog and flipped it over onto its tires. He got in the driver's seat, Teana rode shotgun, and a marine manned the chaingun. The Warthog drove out, approaching and flanking the Wraith; the marine manning the big gun opened fire, as Teana took out a pair of Jackals. The Hog circled around the Wraith, getting behind it, and the chaingun fired at the vulnerable rear section. It hit something vital, and the hover-tank exploded. The Chief waited for the other two members of the marine team to catch up, only to see that they'd lo-jacked a pair of Ghosts. The three vehicles pressed on, road-killing another pair of Jackals and jumping a six-foot drop onto another section. They turned right, finding another five marines guarding a Scorpion tank, while under attack from a pair of Ghosts and a pack of Grunts. As soon as they got close, Teana jumped from the Warthog and ran to the tank, climbing into the driver's seat and starting it up. She turned the barrel and fired, blowing a Ghost into scrap metal. Another _boom_, and the second Ghost tumbled end over end in pieces. A marine from the squad got in the Scorpion's machinegun turret and used it to cut down the Grunts.

"That's the last of 'em" said the team Sergeant. "Area secure. Stand down, team! They did their damnedest, that's for sure. This is all that's left of my platoon! The Covenant are down here in force... and they brought plenty of toys! I wouldn't have given us a snowball's chance until you two showed up."

"Now how's about we all get the hell out of here?" a marine shouted.

"You stow that garbage _right now_, mister. You're a Marine, so act like it, damnit! We've got a job to do here."

"No evac is available at this time, Zulu" Cortana said.

"Okay, Marines; time to pay back the Spartans for pulling your sorry tails out of the fire. Prepare to move out!"

The remaining four marines climbed aboard the Scorpion's treads, taking position the Chief, meanwhile, drover over to the crashed Pelican. He hopped out and grabbed a few more clips for his assault rifle, along with a sniper rifle and four clips for it. Teana drove the tank over, and she opened the hatch as the Chief handed her the sniper rifle and ammo. She nodded in thanks and closed the hatch, as the Chief got back in the Warthog's driver seat. Another Ghost came in through the tunnel ahead, and was ganged up on by the two marine-driven Ghosts, its Grunt pilot quickly taken out. The Warthog took the lead into the tunnel, using its turret to kill a trio of Grunts and a blue-armored Elite. The Scorpion followed it, and the two Ghosts brought up the rear. In the canyon on the other side of the short tunnel, a Ghost ran up, opening fire on the Warthog. The Scorpion's cannon blew it apart, and fired again to destroy a Shade atop a nearby snow-covered rock formation. A marine-controlled Ghost raced ahead, around the boulder, and was promptly obliterated by a plasma mortar fired by the Wraith on the other side of the rocks. The Chief drove his Warthog out, catching the Wraith's attention, and dodged another shot. Teana maneuvered the Scorpion around the other side of the rock, and blasted the Covenant tank in the ass, causing it to explode violently. She turned the cannon right, sighting and destroying another Shade near the tunnel entrance, and the machinegun turret tore through an Elite and a Jackal coming up on the left of the tank. The Scorpion then rolled down into the tunnel, firing two shots to kill a Hunter pair at the bottom of the slope. The Chief's Warthog rolled up next to them, and he hopped out to hit the door controls. The door slid open, and the three vehicles rolled (or hovered, in the case of the Ghost) through.

They soon reached a large chamber with two bridges spanning a deep chasm; one of the bridges was gone, having been blown up by something at some point.

"More Covenant!" a marine called out. "Man, these guys are like cockroaches…"

A tank shot blew two Elite Majors to bits, and the Scorpion then drove out into the chamber, firing right and then left to destroy a pair of new-model Shades. John's Warthog went ahead, turning left and heading for the intact bridge, while the Ghost stayed by the Scorpion's side as extra anti-infantry escort. The Warthog drove onto the bridge, flattening a Jackal, and the gunner opened fire on the Shade turret ahead and to the left. The Scorpion and the Ghost drove up behind it, and the tank fired a shot at a Hunter across the bridge, blowing its top half away. Another shot hit the ground directly behind the other Hunter, hurling it forward through the air and over the edge of the chasm. The Ghost boosted ahead, firing its twin plasma cannons at an Elite and taking it down, and then ram-killing another. With the room clear, they advanced through the next door, following the large hallway, killing another Elite and two Grunts, and reaching a rock-covered slope that led up and out of the tunnel.

**Rolling Thunder**

The rocky slope was populated by Jackals and Skirmishers, who quickly fell to the Warthog's chaingun. When they neared the top, a Spirit flew in, dropping off two blue-armored Elites, a pack of Grunts, and a Ghost that was quickly destroyed by the Scorpion's cannon. The marine-driven Ghost boosted out into the open, firing on the Grunts, while the Warthog's gunner opened up on one of the Elites, killing it. The other Elite was gunned down by the Scorpion's machinegun turret. The convoy went right, the tank firing a shot to destroy an old-model Shade turret atop a boulder, and the Warthog was in the perfect spot to open fire with its main gun as the door on the left opened to reveal an Elite and a group of Grunts, shredding them as they were trapped in the narrow space. They pressed on, a trio of tank shots demolishing the Wraith sitting on the frozen lake ahead. A Ghost came in from the left, and its Elite pilot was killed by the Warthog's chaingun. On the other side of the icy lake, a Hunter pair emerged from the path that the human force needed to take. The Scorpion's main cannon took care of them quickly, and the trio of vehicles moved on, reaching another area. Here, a natural (maybe) ramp led down to a frozen river, and at the bottom another group of marines were clustered around a destroyed Warthog. Teana fired the tank's gun twice to destroy the two Shades on the upper level on the other side of the canyon, while her passengers dealt with the two Grunts and two Jackals to the right.

"I thought the Covenant had eliminated all the marine forces in this area" Cortana thought aloud.

The Scorpion drove down the ramp, and as soon as it reached the bottom, followed closely by the Warthog and the allied Ghost, a Phantom flew overhead (a Type-52-B, with a single rapid-fire plasma cannon and two side hatches – a _Halo 3 _Phantom). It fired, and a shot from the Scorpion blew its chin turret off. It stopped at the upper level of the canyon behind the humans, and dropped its cargo of Grunts and then flew away. The Grunts, however, were funneled down a single path – the rock ramp – and were easily cut down as soon as they came in range. The vehicles moved on, the new marines running behind them, and the tank took out the two Hunters standing in front of the next tunnel. Unfortunately, the tunnel had metal pillars blocking it, the gaps between them too small to fit any vehicles. Everyone dismounted, Teana leading in and sticking a plasma grenade to a cloaked Elite whose active plasma sword gave away its position; after the heat from the blast had faded, the group moved into and through the short cave. On the other side, to the right, three Grunts and a Jackal popped out and opened fire, and a marine went down when a barrage of plasma bolts ate through his chest armor and burned through his torso. A grenade form the marine Sergeant took the four hostiles out. An Elite ran down the rock ramp up ahead, and was speared through the neck by a sniper rifle shot from Teana.

"It looks like the Covenant are dug in up in those rocks" a marine said.

"Marines, hold your positions" Cortana announced. "We'll handle those guns."

The two Spartans ran up the ledge and out into the open area, gunning down Grunts, and Teana fired a single-shot from Mirage Rifle at the Grunt manning the old-model Shade ahead and to the left. A Ghost charged in from the right, and a Banshee opened fire as it flew towards them. Teana switched Cross Mirage to Longsword Mode single blade, and just as the Banshee passed overhead she swung, hacking off the craft's right wing as it passed. It spiraled out of control and smashed into a boulder. The Ghost found a plasma grenade sticking to its fuel cell, and the resulting violent explosion melted all snow within two meters of the blast's center (and vaporized within half a meter). Teana switched Mirage back to Rifle Mode and then used her sniper rifle to take out the gunners of the two Shades on either side of the distant door to the right. The marines moved up; an Elite who came out of the door was taken down by a sniper shot from the marine Sergeant.

"Cortana to Fireteam Zulu: I've sent a distress call tagged with this location. Hold here and await evac. The Spartans and I are going to continue on ahead."

"Roger, Cortana" the Sergeant replied. "Thanks for the assists, Spartans. Okay, team, buckle in; evac bird's on its way, and I don't want any surprises before it gets here."

The two Spartans moved on, Teana taking point and switching her Device/Rifle to full auto. They encountered a pack of Grunts who were quickly dealt with, and moved counterclockwise through the circular room, reaching another elevator and riding it up. At the top, a Jackal waiting for the elevator got its brains blown out by a shot from John's pistol. In the next small room, a pair of Jackals was caught off-guard and dealt with, and the Chief picked up a grenade from a dead marine and hurled it up the ramp into the next main room. The explosive shredded three Grunts and wounded a fourth, and the two Spartans ran into the room and killed it and another Jackal. Suddenly, from the room's center emerged an Elite General wielding a concussion rifle. The Master Chief readied his shotgun and ran in close; two point-blank blasts to the chest brought the alien's shields down, and a third blew its hearts and lungs out. As they moved to the other end of the room, the door began to open from the other side. John quickly threw a frag grenade, which shredded the Skirmisher, Jackal, and three Grunts on the other side.

The Spartan pair moved through the hallway, coming out onto another bridge. They silently killed several sleeping Grunts, scavenging plasma grenades from them, and began to move across the bridge. Up ahead, a pair of red-armored Elite Majors spotted them, and the closest one opened fire with its needle rifle. Teana fired a rifle grenade, the blast weakening both Elites' shields, and she & the Chief opened fire on full-auto at the pair of aliens, bringing them down. They charged across the bridge, gunning down two Grunts and a Jackal, and when they reached the other side a cloaked Elite and five Grunts came out to meet them. John took out the Elite with his shotgun (four shells left now) while Teana killed the Grunts with her rifle. They moved through the next hallway, passing through the next circular room, whose only occupant was a blue-armored Elite who quickly fell to John's assault rifle. They entered a long, straight hallway, John using his pistol to kill the Grunts and Jackal, and they moved through to the next room, combining fire to bring down a red-armored Elite. A trio of Jackals was killed by a frag grenade, and a pack of Grunts were dealt with by assault rifle fire.

The Spartan pair passed through another hallway, coming out onto another bridge. They looked right, and saw the bridge that they had just crossed five minutes ago… only now, a Hunter pair stood on it. They ran across the bridge, a plasma grenade and a shotgun blast taking down two Elite Minors, and rifle fire downing the panicky Grunt pack, as explosive green shells went off behind them. A cloaked Elite at the end of the bridge had its skull punched in, and the dynamic duo entered another hallway. The next room was patrolled by two Jackals and seven Grunts, who went down easy enough. A small entryway led to another long, straight hallway. A cloaked Elite nearby ignited his sword, and John ducked under the decapitating swing, shoulder-checking the shimmering figure in the gut. The Elite's shields flared, rendering it fully visible, and point-blank assault rifle fire finished it off. Toward the end of the corridor, another cloaked Elite tried to club Teana from behind with its plasma rifle, only for her to hear the slight sliding of armored plates against each other and step to the side, using her rifle as a club to bash the cloaked alien in the face, dispelling its active camouflage. She fired several shots point-blank into its face, and it fell.

The next circular room seemed quiet… until they heard the clanking of a Hunter's armor. Sure enough, a peek through a window revealed an Mgalekgolo pair inside the room's central area. John saw an opportunity, though, and ran in toward the dead marine's rocket launcher. The first Hunter spotted him and was about to call out a warning to its bond-brother, but the Chief was faster, firing a rocket into the back of the second Hunter, which collapsed dead in a smoking heap. The first one roared in rage and fired its cannon in beam configuration, sweeping the emerald beam across the room in an attempt to hit the moving Spartan. John successfully evaded the attack, and the Hunter suddenly stopped as an orange energy blade chopped it in half at the waist. A plasma grenade to the face finished the bisected Hunter off.

They went through the next door, using their rifles to take down a Jackal and four Grunts, and moved through the hallway.

**If I Had A Super Weapon…**

The door opened, and they quickly ducked behind a nearby boulder. To the right was a massive structure.

"Analyzing…" Cortana said. "This must be the control room. …_Subtle_. The entrance is at the top of that pyramid structure; bring me up there and I should be able to get us inside."

A frag grenade was tossed out, killing two Jackals and an Elite Minor whose shields had been deactivated because the alien had felt overconfident, thinking that no humans could get past the Hunters. The Master Chief sprinted ahead, gunning down a red-armored Elite and climbing aboard a Banshee. He took off, gaining a bit of altitude and then circling around to launch a fuel rod bomb at the Covenant coming from the bridge's opposite door. Teana sniped another Elite who was trying to board the second Banshee, and then ran over and climbed in, joining the Chief in the sky. Together, they made short work of the Covenant on the bridge. They flew downward, launching a pair of fuel rod bombs at a Wraith, which returned fire ineffectually. Another pair of fuel rod shots destroyed the tank. They flew up to the top of the structure, dismounting their Banshees. John hopped in one of the two new-model Shades flanking the door, while Teana engaged the door-open button and quickly ran to the other gun. The door slid open, and the large force of Covenant got a nasty surprise as the two heavy plasma turrets opened fire on them. The Zealot went down first, trying to rush in with its sword at John's gun but falling dead a few meters from him. The rest of the Covenant fell quickly, the turrets' blasts burning through them. With the area clear, the two Spartans got out of the turrets and walked in, triggering another door.

A swarm of eight Drones flew out through the opening door, firing their plasma pistols at the intruders. John & Teana dodged about, firing their rifles at the insectoids. The last Drone fell just as its final shot drained Teana's shields; by the time she and the Chief had reached the final door, they had recharged. John hit the controls, and the door slid open to reveal a massive chamber, much of it filled by a humongous hologram of the ringworld. A bridge with a reflective surface led to a central terminal. They walked across the bridge and up to the terminal. The Chief pulled Cortana's chip out of his helmet and inserted it into the terminal. Cortana's hologram sprang to life from the terminal, 15 feet tall and constantly shifting between green, blue, and purple.

"You all right?" the Chief asked.

"Never been better" the AI responded. "You can't imagine the wealth of information. The knowledge, so much, so fast… it's _glorious_!"

"So… what sort of weapon is it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's stay focused here. Halo: how do we use it against the Covenant?"

"This ring isn't some sort of brutish cudgel, you barbarian, it's something else. Something much more important. The Covenant were right. This ring… Forerunner… give me a second. …Yes, the Forerunners built this place, what they called a Fortress World, in order to contain…" Her eyes widened, a look of horror appearing on her face. "Oh no… oh, those Covenant fools! They must have known! There must've been signs!"

"What's wrong?" Teana asked, alarmed somewhat by the AI looking so freaked out.

"The Covenant found something buried in this ring, and now it's loose."

"What's loose?" the Chief asked.

"Something horrifying. An extreme threat; much greater than the Covenant, even. This ring was built to contain it. And the Captain… _Keyes_! We have to stop him!"

"What's up with the Captain?" Teana asked, now quite worried.

"The Covenant weapons cache he's looking for; it's actually a containment facility for this new threat! He could accidentally release it! You two need to get out of here _now_! Get going, find Keyes, and stop him before it's too late!"

The two Spartans, now understanding a hint of the severity of the situation, made haste for the exit, radioing Foehammer to come and pick them up ASAP.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	17. 343 Guilty Spark

Here's Chapter 17.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Swamp**

**September 20****th****, 2552**

**21:30 hours**

The Pelican dropship's engine noise joined the chorus of assorted sounds filling the swamp. The craft flew between the trees, relying on instruments to 'see' through the mist. It spun about and the rear hatch opened, allowing its two passengers a look at the murky, spooky locale.

**Well Enough Alone**

"The last transmission from the Captain's dropship was from this area," Foehammer said, "and that was over 12 hours ago. When you locate Captain Keyes, radio in and I'll come pick you up."

The two Spartans hopped out, landing with a splash in calf-deep water. The dropship rose into the sky and flew off, its running lights soon disappearing in the mist. They moved on, and within seconds they spotted a shape up ahead. Approaching closer, they saw that it was a crashed UNSC dropship: Victor-933. The Captain's dropship. A quick search showed that there were only two bodies, those of the pilot and copilot, meaning that they had managed to drop off Keyes and his team, and had crashed shortly after liftoff. As they inspected the wreckage, they walked into the troop bay, where they heard something: a recording, jumbled with static in a few places, speaking in the pilot's voice.

"Dropship Victor-933 (static) _Pillar of Autumn_. Need assistance. We are under attack by some new kind of hostiles. It isn't Covenant. Captain Keyes has been captured by hostiles. (static) –dug in at a large structure in a swamp-(static) –need to pull out. Please-(static). I will set this message to repeat at regular intervals. Dropship Victor-933, clear."

Not Covenant, he said. The new threat that Cortana mentioned was active. And, from the sound of things, it had Captain Keyes. This was seriously bad news. If something that even the Covenant were scared of had the Captain… John shook his head. If something had the Captain, he & the Warrant Officer would swoop in and save the day. They exited the Pelican, the Chief stocking up on shotgun shells, as Teana grabbed a fallen shotgun and plenty of ammo for it. They stocked up on grenades, and then moved on. They soon encountered another anomaly: a Covenant Spirit dropship, prongs-down in the dirt. There was no apparent damage beyond that of a rough landing, so whatever had happened had likely been pilot error. There were no bodies; perhaps it crashed from very low altitude and at low speed, and thus no Covenant perished in the landing?

They moved on, treading through the waters, when suddenly shapes came out of the darkness ahead of them: Grunts, running toward them as fast as they could.

"Run, humans!" one screamed to them. "Run for your lives!"

The Chief grabbed the Grunt, stopping him as he tried to run past. "What's going on?" he questioned.

"The Parasite!" the Grunt cried. "Demons! Apocalyptic monsters foretold in Ancient Ones' scriptures! Horribly bad nasty things with fangs and claws!"

"Our commanding officer went in there" Teana said. "We need to find him."

"He probably not there anymore" the Grunt replied. "At least, not as you know him."

That sounded rather ominous, John thought. "We don't really have much of a choice" he said.

The Grunt was silent for a few seconds, and then said "Then may the gods guide you, and if the beasts catch you, I pray that your deaths are quick and painless, a luxury that very few of their victims get." He let the Grunt go, and the little fellow ran to catch up to his comrades.

"Chief" Teana said suddenly. "I think we're being hunted. Look up, on the hill edges."

John looked up, and caught the barest glimpses of movement, ducking behind trees. He felt a creeping unease in the back of his mind, but squelched it; he had a mission. "Let's go."

They moved on, using a fallen tree as a bridge, and reached an area filled with trees. At one end was the entrance to a buried structure. They headed down and walked toward it.

"I wouldn't go down there if I were you" a raspy voice said to the left, the Mjolnir armor's systems translating it to slightly-accented English.

The two Spartans snapped to look left, raising their rifles. A Skirmisher, clad in orange and gold armor with a face-covering helmet, raised his hands. "Hold fire, humans. I am not your enemy here."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow you to bits" Teana snarled.

"I'll give you more than one, young human" the Skirmisher replied. "First, I and my squad know a great deal about what lurks in there; that knowledge can be of use to you. Second, not all of the Covenant is as rabidly human-hating as the Prophets and their ilk. The Sangheili, in particular, hold near-unanimous respect for your people, and many of them openly question the High Prophets' refusal to allow your species into the Covenant. Many of the Unggoy and most of the Mgalekgolo share this view. Most of my people, the Kig-Yar, do not necessarily, but a few, such as myself and my team, share the Sangheili's view. Most Kig-Yar relish in the slaughter, but my particular clan is merely on the Prophets' payroll… and with how politically unstable the Covenant has been getting lately, a formal trade alliance with humanity is looking more and more enticing by the day."

"Politically unstable?" the Chief asked. "The Covenant?"

The Skirmisher chuckled. "You have no idea. The Covenant has been showing signs of impending fracture for the last few decades, and it is worsening quickly. High-profile political assassinations have been rife lately. The combination of an old blood-feud between the Prophets & the Sangheili, the mutual hatred between the Sangheili & the Prophets' lap-dogs the Jiralhanae, and the increasing human-sympathetic sentiments amongst the Sangheili are all putting a great deal of internal pressure on the Covenant."

"And why are you telling us all this?"

The Skirmisher smiled. "Because when the Covenant inevitably fractures, I and the rest of the Kig-Yar clan I am part of fully intend to extend formal alliance to the UNSC. Compared to the restrictive dogma that infests the Covenant, you humans are open-minded, forward-thinking, and above all you have a far better grasp of trade and money than the Prophets do. Extermination-goal warfare is bad for business; why wipe a race out if trading with them would be _so _much more profitable? Plus, the unending determination and courage that has endeared your people to the Sangheili has also endeared you to me personally. I like you humans; you're far too interesting to let die out."

"So… anything else? You said you had intel on what's down there."

At this, the Skirmisher's face grew serious. "They are called the Flood. And they are more horrible than your worst nightmares made flesh. The Forerunners, those who built this ring and whom the Covenant worship as gods, were a galaxy-spanning civilization with a tech level that was truly extraordinary, capable of bending the stars to their whim. The Flood brought them to their knees in only around 300 Terran years."

This… sounded bad. "What exactly are they?" Teana asked.

"A virulent, parasitic life form, likely of extragalactic origin according to our best scholars and translators of Forerunner records. They reproduce by infecting and/or consuming sapient life-forms that have sufficient calcium levels and a central nervous system. They can absorb the knowledge of those they consume. The small ones take control of the bodies of sufficient targets, erasing their minds, killing them, and using their bodies as grotesque, horribly-mutated puppets of astounding strength, speed, and durability. They eventually use these Consumed Ones as incubators for more small ones, completing the cycle. With sufficient time, they can consume an entire species; only about two weeks are needed for a full-sized Flood outbreak to cleanse a planet of non-Flood life."

Now it made sense. This was why Cortana was so terrified of these 'Flood' getting loose; if they got out, the entire ring could be overrun in no time. And if they got their hands on a working FTL-capable starship…

"Our ship's commanding officer went down there some time ago" the Chief said. "We need to find him… _before _the Flood do. If they get hold of him, they could access his memories of our homeworld's location."

"Then we shall go down there with you" the Skirmisher replied. He let out a series of squawks – a verbal code signal – and from the shadows emerged six more Skirmishers, two in gold armor and four more in dull green. The gold-armored ones both wielded a needler and a carbine each; two of the green-armored ones carried carbines, a third carried a needler, and the fourth wielded a needle rifle and a plasma pistol. All carried forearm-mounted energy shields and plasma rifles. "We cannot risk the Parasite breaking free, nor can we allow a sapient race's homeworld to fall to them. If they infested humanity and gained access to your weapons and technology, they could become nigh-unstoppable. My name is Chen'S-Yar, and this is my hand-picked Talon Squad, the best Kig-Yar special-ops team in the entirety of the Covenant." Chen hefted his needle rifle, checked to ensure his plasma rifle was clipped to his belt, and pressed a button on his wrist-guard, activating a Sangheili-style full-body energy shield. "Come, Spartans. Let us go save your Ship-Master."

The squad stepped forward, entering the facility and taking position on a lift. One of the Skirmishers stepped to the console and hit a button, and the lift descended. As they rode the elevator down, Chen turned to the Spartans.

"The small ones – Infection Forms –travel in tightly-clustered swarms. Use automatic weapons against them, and if you see a large group, throw a grenade. The human fragmentation grenade would work best. If we encounter any Combat Forms – mutated sapients controlled by Infection Forms from within – aim for the chest cavity; that's where the Infection Form is nestled. The human shotgun should do wonders if you aim right; I see you both carry one. Good. _If _we encounter Carrier Forms – the large, bloated ones – _do not _get close to them. Shoot them down from a distance, so as to avoid the resulting blast when they burst and release the Infection Forms stored within. Also, if you stick a plasma grenade to one, the resulting blast will kill the Infection Forms as well."

They stepped out, a green-armored Skirmisher leading, and walked around a bend to find four red-armored Grunts and three low-rank Jackals. Chen stepped forward and explained the situation, and they let the mixed-species team pass. They leapt down to the bottom floor of the next room, where the explanation was repeated to a trio of orange-armored Grunts and two more Jackal Minors. They moved through the small door, passing carefully through a small double-path room and entering the next large room. Ahead and to the left, three Jackals stood, shields up and weapons pointed at a door. Chen approached and explained the situation.

"You'd best steel your stomachs before you pass through this door, Field-Master 'S-Yar" one said. "It is an ugly sight."

The Chief took point, Teana and a gold-armored Skirmisher backing him. The door opened to reveal a gruesome sight: blue and violet blood covered the walls, floor, and ceiling. Teana and the Skirmisher winced. The team passed through, careful to avoid thinking about just what they were walking through. One Jackal briefly followed them through, but a drop of purple blood from the ceiling landed on his arm; he suffered a rather big case of the willies, and doubled back to guard the passage from outside. The team passed through, reaching another room. An old-model Shade sat in the middle, and a Covenant crate against a wall had spilled to reveal several needler ammo crystals. Teana turned to Chen.

"Why are we seeing so many living Jackals and Grunts?"

"We Kig-Yar have a rather light-weight skeletal structure" Chen replied. "It is a remnant of our non-sapient airborne ancestors. It gives us great speed, but it leaves our bodies somewhat fragile, hence our heavy reliance on shields and armor. It also means that we lack sufficient calcium to be chosen as Combat Forms. The Unggoy are not quite large enough, lacking sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood as combatants. The Yanme'e – Drones – do not have calcium-based endoskeletons, and the Lekgolo – Hunters – do not technically have central nervous systems. Amongst the Covenant, only Sangheili and Jiralhanae are sufficient candidates to be made Combat Forms."

"What about these Prophets you mentioned?"

Chen chuckled. "The Prophets may hold tremendous political and religious power, but physically they are frail and weak; even a Kig-Yar could likely best one in a direct fight. They are the brains of the Covenant, and most definitely not the brawn."

"Our reports hint at High Prophets" the Master Chief said. "Who are they?"

"They are the three Hierarchs who hold supreme command of the Covenant" one of Chen's lieutenants said. "The Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret. Regret is young, impatient, impulsive, and arrogant; he rarely thinks things through, and more than once has Truth needed to pull him out of trouble. Mercy is the oldest of the three, and is rather… odd; arguments have been made over whether he is senile or merely… 'quirky'. To use a human term, he is pretty much Truth's yes-man. Truth is the real king-piece. In theory, the three share power, but he holds all the cards, and holds sway over the other two. He is extremely intelligent, cunning, resourceful, good at spinning complex, convoluted plots that can take years – decades, even – to pay off. He is suave, manipulative, and prideful. Word has it that he knows much more about this war's secrets than he lets on, and that he was responsible not only for declaring the war, but possibly for being the individual who started it in the first place."

Teana had gone through enough works of fiction to understand this set-up. If the UNSC were going to end this war, they needed to take out Truth, either by capture or kill. She passed this on to John via private channel, and he agreed wholeheartedly. Truth sounded like he was one hell of a chessmaster, and the UNSC would really have to bring their A-game to win this particular match.

"You're a _lot _smarter than I expected" Teana quipped.

"Yes, well," Chen replied, "much like humanity as a whole, I hold the seeking of knowledge in high regard. I've actually been studying up on bits of human history and culture salvaged from wrecked ships' databanks. Some of your peoples' writers were quite gifted… though I, personally, find Shakespeare just a tad overrated, really. Also, I prefer Mozart over Beethoven." Behind her visor, Teana's eyes bugged out a bit. John made sure his helmet was recording; the boys back home weren't gonna believe this…

"By the way," the Chief asked him, "what's this 'Sacred Ring' stuff I keep hearing?"

Chen shook his head. "The primary facet of the Covenant religion. I myself do not subscribe to it. The legend states that the Rings, when activated, will propel those who are worthy on a Great Journey, transcending them into godhood. It has been discovered that the Forerunners activated the rings at the tail end of their war with the Flood, and thus they became gods. The central focus of the Covenant is to activate this Great Journey and follow the Forerunners into ascension."

The team moved on, hopping up onto the small ledge behind the toppled ammo crate and passing through the door, the Master Chief taking the lead. When they passed through and entered the next room, they found a surprise: a UNSC marine, eyes wide with terror, holding an M6D pistol and pointing it all over the place. He spotted the Chief.

"Stay back! Stay back! You're not turning me into one of those things! I'll die first!"

"Stand down, marine" the Chief said.

The marine didn't listen; he pointed the pistol at the Chief. "Get away from me, you freaks! I won't be like you! I'll die first!"

In a flash, the Chief stepped in and grabbed the pistol out of the man's grip. Teana and the Skirmishers filed in, noticing the man and coming to the same conclusion: literally driven mad by terror. "What is going on?" the Chief asked him. "What did you see?"

"Find your own hiding place! The monsters are everywhere! Play dead! That's what I did. Played dead. They took the live ones. Oh God, I can still hear them!" he began to twitch some more.

"Get a grip on yourself, human!" Chen shouted. "Keyes is going to _die _unless you tell us where he is and what happened!"

The marine finally took notice of the aliens. "Figures…" he mutters. "The world's already going insane. What's Covvies & Spartans teaming up gonna hurt?" Nonetheless, he seemed to calm down ever-so-slightly. "Head up that rubble behind me, follow the upper levels. You'll find… _them_. They'll get you all. They won't get me!" He began to almost-imperceptibly rock back and forth.

John shook his head. He reluctantly handed the pistol back to the man, who took it and seemed to curl himself up over it. There was no way this man was making it out alive. The group headed across the room, climbing atop a fallen block of metal and using it to reach the upper catwalk. They crossed the room, passing through a door directly above the one they'd used to enter and using it to enter the previous large room's upper level. At this point, John noticed something. He hadn't picked up on it before, but this Skirmisher team was actually showing an extraordinary level of team coordination. Tiny tics, finger movements, low sounds, and such were being used as signals and status reports, and the aliens had their heads on a swivel, constantly making sure to have a gun pointed at every single nook and cranny at any one time. Looking at things, it was almost like a team of Spartans, with Chen being equivalent to John himself. He suddenly felt a little better knowing that these guys really knew what they were doing.

A green-armored Skirmisher hit a switch, and a light-bridge snapped into existence, creating a path to the other side of the room. There, glowing red Forerunner glyphs hung on the wall over a broken-down door. The team cautiously moved through, covering every approach. They entered a downward-sloping area, finding it covered in human blood. They carefully stepped down, approaching a door that had a UNSC code-breaker keypad attached to it. As John reached out to hit a button, a sudden, faint slithering sound made him spin around, rifle raised. Everyone else readied their weapons, looking around. When nothing happened, the Chief hit a button on the keypad. The door beeped, slid open, and dumped a dead marine into his arms.

Immediately he held his assault rifle one-handed, pointing it into the room. Teana pointed Mirage Rifle in. Finding nothing, he carefully backed into the room. The rest of the team followed, immediately taking defensive position, and the door slid shut behind them. The room's floor was drenched in human blood, but disturbingly there was not a single body to be found other than the one in the Chief's arms. Hundreds of spent shell casings littered the ground. "Clear left" one Skirmisher said. "Clear right" Teana said. "Clear center" Chen said. "Stay alert."

The Chief gingerly laid down the body, using his hand to close the half-open eyes, and carefully crept forward. He found a UNSC marine helmet laying on the floor, the eye-piece cracked. JENKINS was stenciled on the side. He reached inside, finding the helmet recorder intact, and pulled it out. He inserted it into a slot on his helmet, making sure to beam it to Teana. The Skirmishers' eyepieces and helmet speakers proved compatible as well, and the team nervously settled in to watch the show.

**-**_**PVT. JENKINS, WALLACE A.**_**-**

**-**_**PLAY**_**-**

The dropship flew through the swamp, and mid-21st-century hard rock music blared over the speakers.

"Why do we always have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?" asked Pvt. Manuel Mendoza, who was sitting across from Jenkins.

"Watch yo' mouth, boy" replied 1Sgt. Johnson. "This 'stuff' is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fightin' to protect."

"Hey… if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me."

"Yeah" Pvt. Bisenti added in. "Better it than us."

"Well, you ask 'em _real nice _next time you see 'em, Bisenti" Johnson said. "I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige."

"LZ looks clear!" the pilot announced. "I'm bringin' us down!'

The Pelican came to a stop.

"Go, go, go!"

**-**_**FAST-FORWARD**_**-**

**-**_**PLAY**_**-**

The squad advanced toward the surface-level entrance.

"Stay close, Jenkins!" Johnson ordered. "Mendoza, move it up!"

Johnson turned to Jenkins. "Wait here for the Captain and his squad, and then get your ass inside."

"Yes, sir"

"Okay, let's move!"

**-**_**FAST-FORWARD**_**-**

**-**_**PLAY**_**-**

The squad stood around the dead body of an Elite, clad in black armor. Its chest had been torn open. Over on the left, Mendoza examined another Elite's body that was in the same state.

"…which is weird, right?" Private Kappus said. "I mean, look at it. Something… _scrambled _the insides."

"What's that?" Johnson pointed at something. "Plasma scoring?"

"Yeah… I dunno. Maybe there was an accident. Y'know, friendly fire or something?"

Captain Keyes came into view, standing over the corpse. "What do we have, First-Sergeant?"

"Looks like a Covenant Elite patrol" Johnson responded. "Badass special-ops units. All KIA."

"Real pretty. Friend of yours?"

"Nah. We just met."

**-**_**FAST-FORWARD**_**-**

**-**_**PLAY**_**-**

Now the squad, Keyes included, stood outside the door that the Chief & Chen's team had just passed through.

"Right" Keyes said. "Let's get this door open."

"I'll try, sir" Kappus responded. "But it looks like the Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down. 

"Just do it, son."

"Yes, sir."

Kappus pulled out a code-breaker and attached it to the door. He hit a few keys. After several seconds, it beeped and the door slid open. The squad filed through, Bisenti taking point and Jenkins close behind him, the rest following. The squad fanned out, and soon a faint rumbling could be heard.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Mendoza said, cocking his rifle.

"You've always got a bad feelin' about something" Johnson responded. Just then, Corporal Lovik's voice came over the comm.

"Captain. Sarge. Can you hear me?"

"What's going on, soldier?" Keyes inquired.

"We got contacts!" the marine was panicking. "Shitloads of 'em! But they're not Covenant! They're just tearing through us! We- what the fuck? No! NOOO!" Static blocked out the channel.

"Corporal, report" Keyes ordered. Silence.

"Mendoza," Johnson said, "get your ass back up to Second Squad's position and find out what the hell is goin' on."

"But-"

"I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order!"

"Sarge! Listen!" Kappus brought their attention to the same slithering noise that John had heard earlier. It steadily grew louder.

"What the hell is that?"

"Where's it coming from?"

"Everywhere!"

"There! _Mira!_" (AN: I can't get an upside-down exclamation mark for the Spanish shout)

Mendoza pointed at a door on the left that had just been pushed down. From it came a horde of small, vaguely squid-like creatures.

"AAGH!" Private Riley suddenly screamed. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

Jenkins looked left, seeing Riley on the ground with one of the bizarre creatures atop him. Blood began to flow from the marine's neck, where the creature had inserted feeler-like appendages. Kappus yanked the thing off, and Riley went limp. The thing then began to wriggle and squirm in Kappus' grip, trying to break free.

"Let 'em have it!"

Jenkins looked, and saw a massive tide of the creatures advancing. The marines opened fire, and assault rifle rounds began to tear through them, killing dozens. But there were more. Much more.

"Goddamnit, Jenkins, fire your fucking weapon!"

"There's too many!"

Soon the marines began to fall, covered by the endless flood of creatures. One leapt onto Keyes, driving a tentacle into his neck. He screamed and went limp. Jenkins turned to run, but something smacked into him from behind, dislodging his helmet. The display cut off, the last few seconds being audio of that horrible squirming sound.

**-**_**UNEXPECTED END OF RECORDING (MIA/KIA/INCAP/UNKNOWN)**_**-**

**-**_**PLAYBACK END**_**-**

**The Flood**

John yanked out the chip, tossing it aside. All around him, the Skirmishers, who had seen and heard the footage, were even more on edge. Also, even through Teana's armor John could see she was quivering, and TEAMBIO showed a considerably elevated heart-rate and breathing rate, and increased adrenalin. He didn't blame her for being scared; right now, _he _was shaking a little, too.

"We need to get the fuck out of here" Teana whispered, her voice quaking. "_Now_."

One of the Skirmishers tried the door. "It's locked" he said, trying to keep calm. Everyone immediately checked their weapons, making sure they were ready. Teana switched her rifle to full-auto, Chen slung his needle rifle over his back and pulled out his plasma rifle, his fellows following suit, and the Chief swept the room, finger less than two centimeters from his assault rifle's trigger. After several seconds, a banging sound could be heard. The door on the opposite side of the room burst open, and a cluster of Infection Forms came out. A gold-armored Skirmisher in the middle opened fire with his plasma rifle, sweeping it back and forth slightly and burning through multiple IFs. The Chief stepped up, adding his fire and quickly popping the swarm. The door on the right side of the room began to bulge outward, and the Chief threw a frag grenade just as it fell open; the explosion and high-speed shrapnel ripped the Infection Forms apart, leaving just two that were quickly dealt with by a green-armored Skirmisher. A door on the left burst open, and Chen and one of his lieutenants focused fire, John adding in a second later. One Infection Form raced forward, only for John to kill it by bringing his foot down hard on top of it. Another leapt, and he swatted it out of the air; it slammed into a wall and popped on impact. A third got through and landed on him; it popped instantly on contact with his shield, causing a barely-noticeable drain in his shield's display.

"They have likely learned by now that your shields protect you, Spartan" Chen said. "You'll likely be a prime target. If enough Infection Forms sacrifice themselves in a short enough period of time, they may manage to drain your shields completely and leave you vulnerable to infection. Smaller Spartan, the same warning goes to you."

Teana was about to reply to being called "small", when the door behind her, the one that had locked them in, began to bang. Whatever was out there did not sound like a bunch of Infection Forms hurling themselves at a door. She readied her shotgun. Just as it burst, she threw a frag grenade; it shredded the Infection Forms that came through. Suddenly, a huge shape leapt through the smoke toward her. She pulled the trigger, and the metal pellets tore through the _thing_'s chest, bringing it down and killing the Infection Form nestled within. Looking at it, she saw the familiar hand and foot profile of a Covenant Elite, as well as the alien's head and beck bent backwards over the thing's back. "We've got Combat Forms!"

The team turned to face the door, one Skirmisher moving a second late as he crushed the last Infection Form to death between his claws. Three more infected Elites ran through, each one having one hand replaced by wicked tentacle-claws. Bits of their hosts' old armor still clung to them, and if a close look was taken the sensory feelers of the internal Infection Forms could be seen poking out through the base of the neck. John opened fire on one's chest, the assault rifle rounds punching through its twisted flesh and killing the Infection Form inside. A Skirmisher with a needle rifle got three rounds in another's torso, and the resulting super-combine explosion tore it apart. Another Skirmisher readied his carbine. After a second of aim, he fired, and the green projectile shot straight through the center of the creature's chest; it dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

"How did you do that?" Teana asked him.

"Do you know the aim-assist function held in precision weapons such as the human single-shot rifles & pistols, and our carbines and needle rifles?" he asked her, "The part where when you aim at a weak point such as the head, the red reticle brightens and a small dot appears in the center of it?"

"Yeah…"

"The Covenant has encountered the Flood before, and we've designed our precision weapons to target the point in the chest where the Infection Form has deflated itself and nestled in." He then handed Teana a data chip. "This should allow you to update your peoples' precision weapons against Flood." Teana slipped the data-chip into a slot on her helmet for storage; she wasn't going to be using it right now, though, preferring to keep her rifle on automatic.

"We need to keep moving" the Master Chief said. "We need to get to the surface, inform our respective armies of the situation."

The Chief took point, heading for the busted door, with the Skirmishers filing in behind him and Teana bringing up the rear. They headed out and up, the Chief using his shotgun to kill two more Infected Elites, and they entered the room with the bridge. Down below, a pack of Jackals and Grunts were pinned down by a horde of Combat Forms. The Spartans and Chen's squad fired down, culling the Flood's numbers and giving the Grunts time to grab Needlers and use them to blow the remaining Flood away. The Covenant below waved in thanks, and the team moved toward a small door on the right. They entered a disturbingly quiet room, and spotted the unaware Flood down below. They quietly moved along the wall, reaching another door on the right, only to find it locked. They looked, and saw the only unlocked door on the first floor, directly below the door they'd used to enter. Teana threw a frag grenade, killing the Combat Forms and many of the Infection Forms. They jumped down, the Chief using his assault rifle to kill the stragglers. They were about to pass through the door leading to the small team of Grunts and Jackals, when one of Chen's Skirmishers pointed at another unlocked door below the previous locked one. They filed through, carefully making sure there were no surprises in the tiny side-rooms.

They came out on the lower level of the next room, and four Combat Forms ran up to meet them. The Chief and Teana used their shotguns to put them in their place. On the upper level, two Jackals stood watch. "Field-Master Chen!" one shouted. "Up here!"

"We're working our way out, Minor" Chen said. "Which way do we go?"

"The doorway we are currently guarding" he replied. "Use that stack of fallen crates to climb up here."

The team made their way up, the Jackals nervously eyeing the Spartans, but trusting their commander and fellow clan-men. The team moved through, the Chief scavenging assault rifle ammo and shotgun shells from the dead marine. The next room, a low-ceiling hallway with three bizarre machines with colored sparks dancing through them, was quiet and clean. Through there, they found an elevator room. Massed fire quickly downed the three Combat Forms and popped the Infection Forms. They got aboard the lift and hit the switch, ready to ascend to the surface. It dropped so fast that the Chief's ears almost popped. The walls on the way down dripped with blue Grunt blood.

At the bottom, they got two unpleasant new surprises. The first was that the half-dozen Combat Forms awaiting them wielded weapons. The second was that two of them were infected humans, former members of Keyes' squad. One Skirmisher got grazed in the arm by an assault rifle bullet, but continued fighting. When the last Combat Form fell, the team medic – a green-armored Skirmisher named Ked – put a dressing on his comrade's wound. Suddenly, a lone Infection Form scurried out of hiding. It 'ran' over to a fallen Combat Form, burrowed into its chest, and the former Elite began to rise. A shotgun blast blew its leg off, and the Chief then walked over and put the barrel to its chest. A _bang_, and the chest cavity was shredded beyond the Flood's capability to revive. _Great_, John thought, _they can revive sufficiently-intact Combat Forms. One more nasty surprise_.

They moved into another large two-leveled room, and the central light-bridge flicked and faded in and out of existence; too unreliable to risk crossing. Across the way, a trio of UNSC marines was engaged with Flood. One of them was caught by an Infection Form. He screamed, fell, and was beginning to mutate when another marine recognized the signs and ended his misery. The Spartans and Talon Squad opened fire on the Flood assailing them, aiding the marines. Their level clear, the two men looked over and saw the mixed-species force, double-taking in surprise.

"Sirs?" one asked, incredulously. "What?"

"It's a long story, marine" Teana replied. "How do we get over there?"

"This bridge is busted" the other said. "You could try hopping down, going through that door on the left. Once you reach the big square room, you can climb up the debris and reach the second level, and then follow the door over to us."

The team jumped down to the lower level, passing through the bloodstained doorway and reaching a heavily damaged room. A pack of Infection Forms spotted them and moved in, only to be killed before they could get close. Two Combat Forms leapt down from above, but the Spartans – having been warned by their motion trackers – were ready, blasting them with their shotguns before they could even hit the floor. The group crossed the room, using a toppled Covenant storage crate and a slab of metal to climb up to the upper walkway. Suddenly, they could hear the faint sounds of gunfire and screaming. They rushed through, entering the upper level of the main room, to find the two marines dead, a pair of Combat Forms standing over their mangled corpses. Teana gunned down one, and the Skirmisher named Kan used his needler to kill the other. They continued through, crossing the upper floor and another small square hallway to reach another square room. Down below, a busted door on the left showed where they needed to go. They leapt down, catching the two Combat Forms off-guard and killing them quickly, and passed through.

They entered another long two-leveled room, a frag grenade dealing with two of the three Combat Forms and a well-placed carbine shot downing the third. Chen and John used their automatic weapons to clear out the pack of Infection Forms. The team crossed the room, passing through another busted-down door directly across. They entered yet another two-level square room, spotting a fallen slab of metal; on it were the dead bodies of a marine and a Jackal, two members of opposite sides teamed up in a final last stand. Teana grabbed some shotgun ammo from the marine, and Kan snagged another needler ammo crystal from his smaller fallen clan-mate. They climbed to the upper level, the Chief using his shotgun to kill the two Combat Forms that rushed to meet them, and the group headed to the lone unlocked door on the upper floor.

They passed through and reached another long two-level room, Teana killing the unwary Human Combat Form from behind with a shotgun blast. Chen hit the bridge controls, and a light-bridge spanned across, leading to a busted-down door with two Forerunner symbols above it. The group carefully crossed, weapons trained at the doorway. This proved wise, as when they approached a horde of Combat Forms tried to funnel through the doorway. A frag grenade killed many, and the rest were shot down as they tried to squeeze through the narrow path, leaving them easy pickings for the elite group. Finally, they moved through, reaching another elevator and getting on it. John cautiously hit the button, and to everyone's relief the elevator began to ascend. As they went up, a man's voice came over the radio.

"Heads up, boys. Elevator's comin' up; get ready!"

"This is Spartan-117" John replied. "Warrant Officer D001 and I are on the elevator, and we have a squad of friendly Covenant with us. Do not shoot, over."

"Come again, sir? Did you say _friendly _Covenant?"

"Affirmative, marine. Hold your fire; that's an order."

The elevator arrived at the surface, showing a six-man squad of haggard-looking marines. They eyed the Skirmisher squad suspiciously, but kept their weapons lowered.

"Sir," the Corporal said, "thank God you guys are here. We've been lost out her for hours. After we lost contact with the rest of the mission, we headed for the RV point, and these… these _things_… they ambushed us. We gotta get the hell outta here."

"Those 'things' are called the Flood" John replied, "and they make the Covenant look like a church picnic. This is Chen S'-Yar and Talon Squad, members of a Jackal/Skirmisher clan who are planning on leaving the Covenant and siding with us in a few months. They're specialists in dealing with the Flood."

"This was not my worst encounter with the Parasite," Chen said, "but it comes close. I am glad to see that someone made it out alive."

"Wait," the marine said. "Why a few months? Why not now?"

"We must deliver a report to our clan head and Fleet-Master Vadamee as soon as possible" Chen replied, "and I said a few months because by then the Covenant will likely have split in half due to mounting political instability."

The marines gaped in shock at hearing this last bit. The Covenant was so unstable it was about to rip itself apart? The UNSC might not have to beat the Covenant; the Covenant might do their job for them!

"This is Echo-419" Foehammer's voice suddenly came over the comm. "Chief, Lanstar, is that you? I lost your signals when you disappeared inside the structure. What the hell's going on down there? I'm tracking movement all over the place!"

"You really don't wanna know" Teana replied. "Suffice to say, the Covenant aren't the only threat anymore. The Chief and I have linked up with a few marine survivors and squad of friendly Covvies – a badass Special-Ops squad, I might add. We need pickup."

"There's a large tower a few hundred meters from your current position. Find a way above all that fog and foliage, and I can move in and pick you up."

"Let's move" the Master Chief said. "Watch every shadow, and if it moves, shoot it."

Teana took point, Chen was in the middle, and the Chief brought up the rear. The marines and the rest of the Skirmishers fell in between them. Soon, a few Infection Forms crawled out from the shrubbery, and any slight hope that the Flood could be contained was lost. A marine shredded them with his assault rifle. They moved, gunning down a few Combat Forms, and they neared a passage between two hills.

"Stop" Chen ordered. "My instincts are practically screaming at me; that passageway is an ambush waiting to happen."

"It's our only way through" a marine replied.

"I'll lure them out" Teana said. She moved forward, and sure enough five Combat Forms leapt down, followed by a tide of Infection Forms. She backpedaled, firing her shotgun, as the Chief and the squad added their fire. A marine pitched a frag grenade, and nearly all of the Infection Forms were killed by it. They pushed through, the Chief & Teana killing the Combat Forms. The next open area of the swamp held more Flood forms; plasma rifle fire burnt down most of the Infection Forms, and everyone else opened fire on the Combat Forms. A marine suddenly screamed as an Infection Form leapt onto him, crawling all over him and looking for a gap in his armor. Chen fired a single plasma bolt, nailing the creature just before it could punch into the man's neck. The marine nodded in gratitude.

"This is Spirit dropship _Absolute_," an Elite's voice came over the radio, "contacting Field-Master

'S-Yar. We are on station and ready to pull you out."

"Confirmed, _Absolute_" Chen replied. "Be advised; we have human allies and have engaged the Parasite. The humans' dropship is also en-route. Do not fire."

"Wasn't going to" the pilot said. "_Absolute _moving in to assist."

From above the tree-canopy several seconds later, a Spirit flew in, its plasma cannon opening up on the Flood. Another pleasant surprise came as several silver droids hovered in and began firing orange lasers at the Flood, further thinning their numbers. John and Teana made their way onto a nearby building, looking out at the scene. Suddenly, they could hear someone humming. They looked right, and an odd machine hovered into view. It was round, a silver body with a glowing blue 'eye' in the front. It stopped and looked at them.

"Greetings" it… _he _said. "I am the Monitor of Installation 04. My name is 343 Guilty Spark. Someone has released the Flood. My function is to prevent it from leaving this installation. But I require assistance. Previously, my usage of a single Reclaimer ended poorly; perhaps two will fare better. Come."

Before either Spartan could protect, a series of gold, flashing rings encircled them and the Monitor, and soon all three disappeared.

"Chief!" Foehammer shouted. "I've lost your signal! Where'd you go? Chief!"

A few minutes later, with the path clear, the Skirmisher team bid farewell to the surviving marines, climbed aboard their dropship, and were flown away. Moments after, Echo-419 descended, extracting the men and high-tailing it out of the accursed swamp as quickly as possible.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Don't think that the Human-Covenant relations will improve soon. Chen's clan and the Elites & Grunts allied with it are a rarity; most of the human-sympathizing Covenant will still not hesitate in the slightest to fight against humans on the field of battle. Chen will show up again, but not for a while.


	18. The Library

Here's Chapter 18. Cross Mirage gets two new modes.

Thanks to YouTube user SSoHPKC, who has Halo 1 walkthroughs that come complete with commentary.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Library Installation**

**September 21****st**** 2552**

**0150 hours**

In the corner of a hallway of the first floor in the ancient facility, three pillars of golden light faded into vision. From them sprang two armored figures – one in green armor and the other in red – and a small spherical silver-plated hovering droid.

"We must collect the Index" the droid said, "before we can activate the installation."

The two Spartans looked about, gathering their bearings on their current surroundings. They began to move forward cautiously, following the Monitor. 10 Infection Forms up ahead noticed them, and the Chief took them out with his assault rifle before they could get close. They moved up, and a new foe emerged from the shadows to the left. It was large and bulbous, waddling forward on two stubby legs. The two remembered Chen's description of a Carrier Form, and gunned it down before it could get close. It exploded, scraps of flesh flying everywhere as six Infection Forms were released and were quickly popped. Ahead, a trio of Combat Forms leapt down from a vent and ran at them; Teana stepped forward, shotgun drawn, and blew them away. Another Carrier Form followed them, dispensing five Infection Forms when it fell, which John gunned down. They moved forward, catching up to the Monitor.

"We are near the Index chamber" he said. "Follow me." He flew over a wall, and in the wall was a currently-opening revolving door. From the left, another group of Flood forms – 3 Combat and 2 Carrier – leapt out, and the Chief tossed a frag grenade that took out all five, the shrapnel ripping through the Carrier Forms and killing about half of the Infection Forms carried within, and leaving the rest easy prey to assault rifle fire. They turned left, passing through a short door into a massive, circular chamber. In the center, floating above a deep pit far out of their reach, was a glowing green object.

Suddenly, Guilty Spark turned and flew down to them, stopping in front of Teana. "Interesting" he said. "The intelligent weapon you carry is infused with a class of magic that bears great similarity to my makers'. Perhaps a descendant style. In that case, our upgrade facility should work on your weapon. Please, follow me for a moment."

He led her to a small chamber off to the side. In the middle was a round platform. "Unfortunate" Spark said. "This machine is only partially working; the data modules containing schematics for my makers' weapons have been irreparably damaged. However, the upgrade device itself is still functional. It can likely draw data from your suit, and from that close-range projectile weapon you're carrying."

Teana stepped into the circle, setting Cross Mirage down in dormant form. After a few seconds, the card began to rise in a pillar of blue light. Blue particles of some sort (AN: think Metroid Prime upgrade shtick, except blue instead of yellow) began to swirl about, only to converge on the card, which glowed bright blue for a few seconds before fading. Teana reached out and caught the card.

"New modes successfully installed" Cross Mirage announced. "Particle-beam sniper mode online. Shotgun mode online."

Teana activated Mirage, switching to Rifle Mode. She concentrated, and it changed. When the orange light faded, Mirage was 1.6 meters long, with a longer, thinner barrel. There was no ejection port, because this was not based on a human weapon. Teana, ever the sniper, relished in the idea that she now essentially held a limitless-charge Covenant Type-50 Particle Beam Rifle; where the open circle holding ammo crystals would be, there was instead the circular gold gem with a red outline and 'X' that was Cross Mirage's core. Atop the rifle sat a scope, with 5x and 10x magnification, and standard and infrared modes.

She concentrated again, and again Cross Mirage shifted form. Now, even though it carried Mirage's characteristic look and colors, and did not have a slot to place shells, she recognized the profile of a UNSC M90 Shotgun, Mirage's core having shrunken down (externally, at least; magic-based space-time manipulation is a tricky thing) to fit just above the trigger.

Teana exited the chamber, to find that John had been watching; he nodded approvingly. Teana handed John her shotgun ammo and dumped the empty weapon, since she now had a personal unlimited-ammo version. Just then, two Combat Forms came charging from behind. John gunned one down with his assault rifle, and the other had its head blown off by Mirage Shotgun; the now-headless reanimated corpse didn't even flinch, continuing its charge until another blast tore through its chest, killing the Infection Form.

"The primary elevator directly above us on the fourth floor will allow us to access the Index" Spark said. "We should hurry."

The duo moved through another small hallway on the other side of the chamber; as they exited it, three Combat Forms leapt over the 10-foot-high pillar directly ahead in quick succession; the two shotguns tore them apart before they landed. They moved on, cutting through several more Carrier and Combat Forms, switching back and forth between weapons rather frequently, and continued on until they reached a huge door. Spark hovered in front of it.

"The security doors have sealed automatically" he said. "I will go access the override to open them." He flew off, humming to himself, and flew into a vent. Several seconds later, he re-emerged, and the door began to open, Spark flying through the gap as soon as it was wide enough to fit him. "Please follow closely" he said. "This portal is the first of 10."

"Joy" Teana deadpanned.

They entered the next hallway, and Spark continued to speak. "Puzzling. Your weapons seem to be of rather admirable effectiveness against the Flood, despite their primitive level. I suppose the most advanced technology isn't always necessarily the best."

A Combat Form with a shotgun leapt from a vent on the left as they passed it, though fortunately its shot missed. John didn't give it a second chance, pressing the assault rifle's barrel against its chest and pulling the trigger, shredding the Infection Form and the host's mutated spinal cord, rendering the body useless to the Flood. "The Flood must not escape the Installation" Spark said. "They would consume _all_."

They moved on, passing a short period of peace before hanging a left, heading down a corridor that held a half-dozen Combat Forms and a Carrier Form that leapt down to ambush them. The Spartans, warned by their motion trackers, used their shotguns to blow two Combat Forms out of the air, and then turned their guns on the others. The Carrier Form was hit by a pistol shot (John still has his M6D and two extra clips in addition to his AR and shotgun) and exploded, the blast killing the last Combat Form; two more pistol shots killed the resulting Infection Forms.

"You can see how the body has been transformed by the genetic restructuring of the Flood infection" Spark rambled. "The small creatures carry spores that cause a host to mutate. The mutated host then produces spores that can pass the Flood to others. It is insidious and elegant. As long as any potential hosts remain, the Flood is virulent."

"How long have you been here?" the Chief asked him. "How old are you?"

"I have been overseeing this facility since its construction, approximately 100,214 local years, many of which have been quite boring… until now. _Hee-hee-hee_!"

John arched an eyebrow behind his helmet. "Even dumb AIs can start to develop 'quirks' after about 15 or 20 years," he said to Teana over a private channel, "and extended time without contact with other people – AI or not – can have just as bad an effect on an AI as it has on a human. It's quite possible that this little guy is literally insane."

"That's the impression I was getting" she replied.

They moved down the hallway, a well-placed plasma grenade taking care of a quarter of infected Elites that ran from around the next corner. They moved to the next short hallway, tossing a grenade where a trio of Combat Forms was about to land after jumping from a vent. This was fortunate, as among the flying bits of Flood and weaponry was an M19 rocket launcher that a Human Combat Form had been carrying. A Carrier form hopped down from a vent on the right, and Teana used Mirage Rifle to gun it down and kill the Infection Forms. The two Spartans went right, and from a trench directly ahead sprang four Combat Forms, leaping out in ambush. Cross Mirage Rifle's bayonet ripped through one's chest, and the Master Chief's shotgun took out two more. A precision single-shot to the chest from Mirage Rifle took the last one down.

"This installation's research facilities are most impressive" Spark said randomly. "Perhaps we'll have time to see them later." The Chief just shook his head and pressed on, Teana following. She switched Mirage Rifle's under-slung attachment to 40mm grenade launcher, and fired one at a tightly-packed group of Flood up ahead. The blast combined with the lone Carrier Form's burst to send the Combat Forms flying in all directions in several pieces, and assault rifle fire from the Chief killed the few Infection Forms that survived the dual blast. At the right turn to the next hallway, more Flood leapt out to attack, and were cut down, though in this engagement the Spartans discovered just how strong Combat Forms were, when a single full-strength tentacle-claw swipe drained the Chief's shields from 85% to 30%. They paused after the immediate area was clear until the Chief's shields recharged, and then pressed on, foiling a five-strong Carrier Form ambush with lots and lots of full-auto fire.

As they neared the first elevator, a horde of Combat and Infection Forms came out of its doorway. To the Spartans' left and above, seven of the silver angular droids hovered out, and opened fire with their lasers on the Flood, culling their numbers.

"These Sentinels will supplement your combat systems, Reclaimers" Spark said. "Though I suggest you upgrade to a higher-class Combat Skin. Your current models only scan as Class 2, which is ill-suited for this level of outbreak. This level of outbreak would better suit at least a Class 12 for a lone soldier or Class 8 for a pair such as yourselves."

_If there's a battle-suit four times as advanced as Mjolnir Mark 5_, Chief thought, _I'll be first in line to try it out._

They passed through to the massive elevator. "Pardon me" Spark interrupted. "A plasma conduit breach in Sector 5-5-2-4 has disrupted power flow to a gravity maintenance facility. Repairs require my attention. I will return soon."

John & Teana hopped onto the elevator, which slowly rose up toward the second floor.

**Wait, It Gets Worse!**

They stepped off the elevator and through the doorway, Guilty Spark reappearing and flying over and past them, murmuring and humming to himself. To the right, five Carrier Forms hopped down from a vent. A pistol shot from John detonated one, the blast hurling the other four every which way. 20 more seconds of full-auto work followed. They pressed on, six Sentinels coming out to assist them, and hung a left to another hallway, which was – for the moment – empty of Flood.

"Flood activity has caused a failure in a drone control subsystem" Spark said. "I must reset the backup unit. Please, continue on; I will rejoin you once I have completed my task." Again, he disappeared, leaving the two Spartans and six Sentinels to hunker down at the next large door, the combat droids killing two Carrier Forms and their infectious payloads. Several seconds later, a huge swarm of Flood forms began to pour in toward their position. Teana & John readied shotguns, and Mirage sent a command signal to the Sentinels, instructing them to focus on the Infection & Carrier Forms in this fight while the Spartans dealt with the Combat Forms. The next few minutes were somewhat hectic, as lasers and tungsten pellets flew through the air and ripped & burned through Flood. Finally, the last Flood form fell, and seconds later the Monitor reemerged, the door opening at his command.

The next room was much larger than previous ones. Up ahead, two Carrier Forms waddled forward. John pitched a plasma grenade, and it stuck to one of them; the blast vaporized that Form's Infection Forms and ripped the other Carrier Form apart, killing half of its living cargo and leaving the others easy prey for the Sentinels. They moved down the high, long, curving hallway, the Sentinels killing two more Combat Forms and a Carrier Form. Toward the end, Teana switched Mirage to Sniper Mode and looked through the scope, spotting that one of the three Combat Forms ahead was carrying a rocket launcher. She shot the launcher's magazine, detonating both rockets; the explosion blew the trio of CFs to bits. They moved on to the next door, and Spark sent a command code to it. It began to open, but then something grinded and whirred, and the door stopped.

"Please wait here" Spark said, floating off, the Sentinels following him. Aside from a pack of Infection Forms – easily dealt with by a Cross Mirage Rifle 40mm grenade – the wait was peaceful, and soon Spark returned, the door opening fully. As they stepped through, the Chief noticed a horribly mangled human carcass in the corner nearby, clad in the remnants of a UNSC marine armor suit. "Who is that?" he asked Guilty Spark.

"Ah, yes, the other Reclaimer. He was far less properly equipped than you two were. That being said, he possessed quite the raw determination; he made it much farther than predicted."

The bloodied dog-tag read MOBUTO, MARVIN – SSGT. The Chief gave an impromptu, informal eulogy, and the duo moved on, following the rambling light-bulb. A quintet of Combat Forms leapt up from a trench; a frag grenade killed three, and two shotgun blasts took down the other two. Ahead, the duo found a trench in the ground that led into a tunnel. A little ways in, a Carrier Form spotted them. A three-round burst from Mirage Rifle popped it, and a few more killed the Infection Forms. They moved in, turning right and killing another Carrier and its infectious passengers, and headed through the tunnel, turning right and seeing the end. As they approached, a Combat Form dropped from above, and the Chief blew it away. Three more charged in, backed by a small cluster of Infection Forms. Teana launched a 40mm grenade, and the confined space that the Flood were in meant that the explosion killed all of them. The two Spartans ventured out back into another hallway, killing a pair of Carrier Forms and heading left.

"Your environment suits should serve you well when the Flood begins to alter the atmosphere" Guilty Spark said from above them. "You are good planners."

As they followed the Monitor and made a left into another shorter hallway, they came under ambush from a half-dozen Combat Forms, along with a Carrier Form from behind. Teana switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode and engaged the Combat Forms, while John spun around and gunned down the Carrier Form and its cargo. They moved ahead and shifted left to another hallway, and at the other end a quartet of Carrier Forms waddled toward them. Teana switched to Rifle Mode and fired a grenade, and soon 20 Infection Forms were heading toward them, only to pop en masse under Cross Mirage's full-auto fire. At the other end ahead, two Combat Forms hopped down from a vent; from one of them came a rocket, which John ducked under. Teana switched to single-shot and looked through her scope, aiming for the chest; three shots were fired, and one of them popped the Infection Form inside. The other one went down with four shots, and the Spartans moved on, turning right.

"The installation was well-conceived" Spark said from up ahead, as four infected humans came out to fight. "It is surely the only way to end the Flood threat."

The four Flood were gunned down, and the dynamic duo pressed on. Ahead, a Carrier Form served as a small bomb to injure several Combat Forms; the fact that two of the Combat Forms had a few grenades meant that the resulting combination blast obliterated the Flood forms. They continued on, fighting through more Flood, until they finally reached another elevator. They went in and got aboard, and it began to ascend.

**But I Don't Want To Ride The Elevator!**

As they exited the elevator and entered another hallway, a squad of seven Sentinels came out to join them.

"I would conjecture that the other group of species on the installation is responsible for releasing the Flood" Spark said. "They seem most persistent in their attempts to access restricted areas."

The next hallway held a small force of Combat Forms, easily dealt with, and another below-floor tunnel awaited. The two went in, and when they entered the main stretch of tunnel they could see a few Combat Forms at the other end, which had yet to notice the pair. Teana switched Mirage to Sniper Mode and peered through her scope at 10x. When the reticle brightened and gained a dot, she fired, and the particle beam ripped through a Combat Form's chest, killing the Infection Form. She fired again, taking a second one down, and the third began charging toward her. The straight and narrow tunnel restricted it to running straight at her, leaving it easy prey for a third kill-shot. She switched back to Shotgun Mode, and she & John hurried down the cramped passage. When they neared the next turn, a swarm of Infection Forms came out, and the Chief popped them with his assault rifle. Three Combat Forms came around the corner, going down rather quickly. A Carrier Form waddled into view, and a pistol shot set it off; its explosion triggered a frag grenade on the floor, which killed the Infection Forms that sprang from the Carrier.

They exited the tunnel, rejoining the team of Sentinels from earlier. One Combat Form with a needler managed to stick seven needles in a Sentinel, and the droid was destroyed, exploding into a hail of shrapnel. The other six instantly focused on that particular Combat Form, burning it into non-recognition, and then turned their attention back to the other Flood. The Spartans moved forward, leaving the Sentinels to their work, and made two right turns, soon approaching another sealed door. The Monitor disappeared into an access port, and the two Spartans took defensive position at the door. Sure enough, like clockwork, the Flood began another attack. Five minutes of running & gunning and strafing & shooting later, and the last Form fell just as the door opened. Through the door and into the massive, cavernous room/chamber, they hung a left, and the rocket missed the Chief by about six centimeters. Teana blasted the Combat Form with Mirage Shotgun, blowing off the arm that was holding the launcher. Another shot to the chest put it down.

"Why naturally the Flood is simply too dangerous to release," Spark said, "and mass sterilization protocols may again need to be enacted. Of course, samples were kept here after the last catastrophic outbreak... for study. It seems... that decision may have been an error."

_No shit_, Teana thought as she used Mirage Shotgun to kill two more Combat Forms. Two more Combat Forms and a Carrier Form fell to the Chief. They moved on, and up ahead two large square things coming up from the floor had a pair of Combat Forms standing atop each; the four opened fire, though distance made it so the automatic weapon fire was somewhat easy to dodge. Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode and killed the two on the left block, while the Chief used his pistol to kill the ones on the right. From the shadows to the left came a Carrier Form, which fell under a barrage of full-auto fire, as did the IFs that came from it. The Spartans moved to yet another door, which was thankfully already open. They moved through, entering another corridor.

"The installation was specifically built to study and contain the Flood" Guilty Spark said. "Their survival as a race was dependent upon it. I am grateful to see that some of them survived to reproduce."

"Okay, it's official" Teana said over the private TEAMCOM. "This guy is completely fucking nuts."

"Agreed."

Another five Combat Forms were up ahead; they were killed with little trouble. The duo went left, fighting through yet another ambush of Combats & Carriers, shifting to a parallel hallway, where they encounter _another _ambush, until they finally went right and caught up to the Monitor again. They entered a room, passing through a partially-open door and coming to a closed one.

"I will deactivate the security lock" the Monitor said. "Wait here." And away he goes again. The door they came in through sealed shut, and wave upon wave of Flood spilled forth from the two vent openings in the room. After almost five straight minutes of combat and close calls, Spark finally reappeared, and the door finally opened. The Sentinels accompanying the Monitor came into the room and picked off the stragglers, and the Spartan pair headed on, following the metallic chatterbox. "Please stay close" he said. "Time is short."

They headed right, and a frag grenade took out six of an eight-strong Combat Form group, the last two being burnt down by the Sentinels. A little ways down, and the last elevator was reached. The Spartans climbed aboard, and ascended yet again.

**Fourth Floor: Tools, Guns, Keys To Super-Weapons**

Immediately upon entering the next hallway, a Carrier Form nearby exploded under a Sentinel's fire, and the laser quickly swept across the cluster of Infection Forms, killing them. The two Spartans headed right, passing down another two-length hallway, gunning down Carrier Forms and another Combat Form ambush. They turned left and entered another below-floor tunnel. In the center of the main stretch of tunnel, a Carrier Form was positioned perfectly; the resulting blast released its cargo of five Infection Forms, but killed the 15 IFs that the CF had been walking past. They exited the tunnel into another two-door room, heading left to camp beneath the sealed door that Guilty Spark was currently trying to open. Seven Combat Forms fell before the door opened, and the pair continued on through a few more hallways, encountering another Carrier Form ambush that required a lot of bullets to deal with.

"The Flood are already hard at work repairing your vessel" the Monitor said. "Its parasitic nature belies the Flood's intelligence."

At last, they came to the final door. It opened, and several Combat Forms leapt through the widening hole, to be cut down by twin shotguns. The door opened fully, and a pack of Infection Forms scrambled through, only to be killed by a plasma grenade. After 10 solid minutes of slowly working their way through literally dozens of Flood, the exhausted pair of Spartans finally reached the massive elevator. It slowly began to descend, bringing them down to the Index. Finally, it reached the bottom, and floating green object hanging in the air directly before them.

"You may now retrieve the Index."

John reached out, and the four spinning things holding the Index locked into place with four _clicks_. The T-shaped device rose up, and he grabbed hold of it and pulled it out, inspecting it. Suddenly, it was yanked from his hand, disappearing into Guilty Spark.

"Protocol requires that I take position of the Index for transport" Spark said. "Your organic bodies render you vulnerable to infection. The Index must not fall into the hands of the Flood before we can reach the control room and activate the installation."

The golden rings of teleportation surrounded the Monitor and the two Spartans.

"The Flood is spreading! We must hurry!"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Yes, the Library _is _monotonous, isn't it?


	19. Two Betrayals

Here's Chapter 19. I like SSoHPKC's nickname for Guilty Spark: "That Fucking Hum-Dinger"

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Control Room**

**September 21****st**** 2552**

**0420 hours**

A trio of teleportation ring-sets appeared on the bridge that spanned the control room; from them appeared two armored figures and a chatty droid.

"…which means that any organism with sufficient mass and cognitive capability is a potential factor."

John looked around. Where was Cortana?

"Is… something wrong?" the Monitor asked.

"…No. Nothing."

"Splendid! Shall we?"

Guilty Spark hovered across the bridge and over to the terminal, humming all the while, and the two Spartans followed them, Teana still having Cross Mirage out and in Rifle Mode on the off chance that the Covenant had infiltrated and were hiding nearby. Her suspicion was unfounded, fortunately. Soon, they came to the terminal.

"Unfortunately," Spark said, "my usefulness in this particular endeavor has come to an end. Protocol does not allow units with my classification to perform a task as important as the reunification of the Index with the Core. That final step is reserved for _you_, Reclaimers."

Spark handed John the Index, and he inserted it into the central terminal. A whirring sound could be heard rising in pitch, but then suddenly the flashing lights faded and the sound lowered and disappeared.

"Odd" Spark said. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

Cortana reemerged from the terminal, her multicolored hologram towering over them. And she looked _furious_. "Oh, _really_?"

There was a flash of violet light, and a thud as Guilty Spark dropped to the floor.

"Cortana? Wha-"

"I have spent the last three-and-a-half hours cooped up in here, watching you two traipse about, helping _that thing _get set to _slit our throats_!"

"Hold on, now," Teana said, "this guy may be a little unhinged, but he's an ally."

"Oh" the AI put a hand to her mouth, clearly sarcastic. "I didn't realize. He's your friend, is he? Your buddy? …_DO YOU TWO HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT LITTLE BASTARD ALMOST MADE YOU DO?_"

"Yes" John replied, keeping calm. "Activate Halo's defenses, and destroy the Flood. Which is why we brought the Index to the control center."

"You mean this thing?" she held the Index up.

"A construct? In the core?" Spark seemed rather miffed. "That is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Fuck off!" Cortana responded.

"What impertinence! I shall purge you at once!"

"You sure that's a good idea?" the Index disappeared, having been converted into data and absorbed by Cortana.

"…How… HOW DARE YOU? I'LL-"

"You'll what? _I _have the Index! _You _can just _float and sputter_!"

"Enough!" John finally shouted. Teana almost flinched; this was the first time she'd ever heard him raise his voice. He turned to Cortana.

"The Flood is spreading. If we activate Halo' defenses, we can wipe it out."

Cortana shook her head and face-palmed. "You guys have no idea how this ring works, do you? Why the Forerunners built it? Halo doesn't kill the Flood. It kills their _food_. Humans, Covenant, whatever; we're all equally edible. The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death, and that's exactly what the Halos are designed to do: _wipe the galaxy clean of all sapient life_! …You don't believe _me_? _Ask him_."

The Spartans slowly turned to face the Monitor, looks of wide-eyed shock hidden behind their visors. "…Is this true?"

"…More or less". Teana's jaw dropped at this. _How the fuck could he not tell us this? And how can he sound so fucking casual about it?_

"Technically, this installation's harmonic neuron nullification pulse has a maximum effective radius of 25,000 light-years, but once the other six follow suit, this galaxy will be quite devoid of life. Or, at least, any life with sufficient biomass and developed central nervous system to sustain the Flood. But… you already knew that. I mean… how couldn't you?"

"Left out that little detail, did he?" Cortana said flatly.

"We have followed outbreak containment procedure to the letter. You were with me each step of the way as we managed this crisis."

"Guys…" Cortana said, sounding a little nervous. "I'm picking up movement…"

"Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?"

"Guys, seriously. We need to go. _Right. Now_."

Four Sentinels hovered into view, and the Chief reached behind him and pulled Cortana out of the central terminal, slotting her into his helmet. He readied his assault rifle, and Teana switched Cross Mirage to one bullet-pistol and one plasma-bolt.

"The last Reclaimer to activate the Rings asked me: if it were my choice, would I do it? Having had considerable time to ponder his query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice; we _must _activate the ring."

"_Get. Us. The Hell. Out. Of here. Now._"

"If you are unwilling to help, I will simply find another. Still, I must have the Index. Give your cons cut to me, or I will be forced to take her from you by force."

"That's not going to happen" John said, and he & Teana pointed their weapons at the Monitor.

"…So be it". He turned to his Sentinels. "Kill her. Save his head. Dispose of the rest."

Spark teleported out, and the Sentinels opened fire.

**The Gun Pointed At The Head Of The Universe**

The Sentinels struck. The Spartans ducked behind the nearby glass. Teana leaned out with her plasma gun, firing a barrage of blue bolts that burned through a Sentinel's armor and brought it down. Another Sentinel tried to fly around the barrier and get a clear shot, only to be reduced to shrapnel by John's shotgun. The third and fourth went down to Teana's weapons.

"We can't let the Monitor find a way to activate the ring" Cortana said. "We have to stop him. We have to destroy Halo. According to my analysis of available data, the best course of action is somewhat… risky. An explosion of sufficient power should destabilize the ring, and will cut through a number of primary systems. We need to trigger a detonation on a very large scale, however; a starship's fusion reactors detonating should do the job. I'm going to search what's left of the Covenant battle-net, and see if I can locate the _Pillar of Autumn_'s crash-site. If the ship's reactors are still mostly intact, we can use them to destroy Halo. The blast should blow a big enough chunk out of Halo that the resulting weak point will make the ring's own rotation and centripetal force tear it apart. Also, when the ring fragments, its environment systems will probably fail, and that will leave the Flood to freeze to death. We'll kill two birds with one very big stone."

The pair walked over to the door, and Teana hit the switch. In the hallway ahead, two Elites and four Grunts engaged four Sentinels in battle. One Grunt went down, but the Sentinels were quickly dispatched. They then saw the two Spartans and opened fire. _I guess Chen's group has already left the ring_, John surmised. He threw a frag grenade, killing the Grunts, while Teana switched Mirage to Sniper Mode, using two particle-beam shots to blast the Elites through the head. Up ahead, a Jackal fired an overcharged plasma pistol shot, which Teana ducked under at the last second. The alien, thinking it was at a safe distance, lowered its shield-arm, and promptly took a particle beam through the eye. The Spartans move up, turning left and passing through a door into a small Covenant impromptu base. They opened the next door, leading outside, and Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode full-auto, while the Chief readied his assault rifle. The door raised, revealing a red-armored Elite and four Grunts. Focused AR fire took the Elite down, and a few more shots picked off the panicking Grunts.

"I haven't located the crash site yet," Cortana said, "but we need to buy some time, in case the Monitor or his Sentinels find a way to activate Halo without the Index. The machinery in these canyons are Halo's primary firing mechanisms. They consist of three phase pulse generators that amplify Halo's signal and allow it to fire deep into space. The power levels are _enormous_; I can't even _begin _to calculate the pulse's exact range. So, if we damage or destroy these generators, the Monitor will need to repair them before Halo can be used. I'm marking the location of the nearest generator; we need to move in and neutralize it."

The Spartan pair made their way down a level, killing another Elite Major, two Grunts, and a Jackal. They quickly made their way down the structure, killing more Elites, Grunts, Jackals, and a few Skirmishers. They reached the bottom, spotting a pair of Banshees waiting. Unfortunately, between them and the aircraft were several Elites & Grunts, including an Elite General, and a Wraith. They moved left, dodging a plasma mortar, and found two dead Flood Combat Forms… and a rocket launcher with eight extra rockets, which Teana grabbed. The Wraith took three hits to kill, the Elite General two more, and one last rocket killed the few Grunts who survived John's attack. Teana kept the launcher and the two extra rockets, and they made their way over to the Banshees.

They flew almost straight up, quickly reaching the entrance to the generator. The door opened, and John fired a fuel-rod shot that killed the exiting Elite and two Grunts. They set down and got out of their flyers, heading through the door and into the generator room, Teana killing a lone Grunt guarding the machine. They found the generator, which was so bright that it hurt to look directly at.

"That's the generator" Cortana said. "The central core is the signal amplifier. That's what we need to shut down. We need to interrupt the pulse generator's energy stream. I've adjusted your shield system, Chief, so that it will deliver an EMP to disrupt the generator, but you have to walk into the beam to trigger it.

"I have to _what_?"

"Don't worry; your shields will be drained by the burst, but they'll recharge just like normal."

He turned to the smaller Spartan. "Lanstar, cover me until my shields are back up."

"Yessir"

John steeled himself and walked into the beam. There was a bang, a flash of light, and his shields were pulsing a low warning tone in his ear, informing them that they'd been completely downed.

"Objective accomplished" Cortana said. "Scanning… the generator's central core is offline. Well done."

Just as his shields recharged, a squad of Sentinels flew into the room. The Spartans opened fire, using shotgun blasts to quickly down the droids, and they then headed back outside to the Banshees.

**Breaking Stuff To Look Tough**

"The second pulse generator is located in the adjacent canyon" Cortana said as they got back in their Banshees. "Let's move out, and I'll mark the target with a NAV point when we get closer."

The two craft flew down, launching fuel-rod shots at the Covenant on the bridge below. They spent a few minutes raining death until the bridge was clear, and then set down and got out of their Banshees, heading through the doorway on the left side. They passed counterclockwise through a room, clearing out a pair of Elites and a pack of Grunts (and a Jackal), and going through a small opening, killing two more Jackals and reaching a long hallway. At the other end emerged a blue-armored Elite, two orange-shielded Jackals, and a Grunt. A 40mm grenade from Mirage Rifle killed the little ones, and several shots from the Chief's pistol killed the Elite. They reached the end of the hall and turned left, following a short hall that led to another larger room, where several Combat Forms exchanged fire with Covenant soldiers. After standing back and letting them fight it out a bit, the Spartans charged in, Teana with Mirage Shotgun and the Chief with his assault rifle, moving in to mop up the stragglers. They moved out, first going right to scavenge shotgun shells and frag grenades, and then starting to go left.

An Elite Zealot charged out to meet them, plasma sword blazing. Several shotgun rounds and two-thirds of an assault rifle clip took it down. They moved around the room, tossing a frag grenade to kill a few Skirmishers, and from the door ran a group of Combat Forms, who attacked and killed the Elite before turning their attention to the Spartans. Another frag killed most of them, with John stepping onto a legless fallen Combat Form and blasting it in the chest point-blank with his shotgun. Two Carrier Forms hobbled into the room, coming apart under AR fire and releasing their payload, which was also killed quickly. The Spartans moved through the door and hall, coming out on a bridge. On this bridge, a force of Covenant traded fire with Flood Combat Forms on the other bridge several meters to the left. A trio of Jackals fell as the Spartans began their crossing, followed soon after by an Elite General carrying a plasma launcher, whose death used up the last spare rockets Teana was carrying, leaving her with two shots left. As the Spartans continued across the bridge, however, they received unexpected company as several Combat Forms soared through the air, leaping several meters between bridges in a single bound and landing right in front of them. The duo charged through, shotguns blazing, until they finally reached the end of the bridge, passing through the door and following the hallway.

The next room was crawling with Combat Forms, and it took a few minutes to kill them all. A cluster of Infection Forms also came out to play, getting a frag grenade for their trouble. Around the corner up ahead, the sounds of combat announced the clash between a team of Elites and a 'squad' of Combat Forms. A Combat Form with a rocket launcher blew the Elites to bits, and a frag grenade from the Chief did the same to said Combat Form and all but one of its buddies. A few pistol shots took the survivor down, and Teana scavenged an extra pair of rockets. They went down the hallway and reached another room, again populated by Combat and Carrier Forms. A few minutes of exterminating, and the duo moved on, a short burst of the Chief's assault rifle killing the Infection Forms waiting behind the next door.

Beyond this next hallway was the other bridge from earlier. Several Combat Forms traded fire with Covenant on the other bridge, and a Banshee flitted about, raining plasma on the Flood. The two moved forward, John tossing a frag grenade that shredded a few Combat Forms and sent a pair of Carriers flying over the edge. The Banshee took notice of the Spartans and tried to dive-bomb them, only to get a plasma grenade stuck to its canopy courtesy of Teana. The twisted remains of the craft plummeted to the ground far below, and the Spartans fought their way across the bridge, Teana grabbing four more rockets from a fallen Human Combat Form. They reached the end of the bridge, passing through a hallway into another circle room, where a group of Infection Forms were apparently trying to eat a dead Elite; a shotgun blast killed them. The room held a few Combat Forms and a _large _amount of Infection Forms; the Chief's shotgun took out the latter, while a few dozen rounds from Mirage Rifle cleared out the latter. They passed through and reached an elevator, riding it down while being rained on by Infection Forms.

At the bottom, they fought through another room full of Combat Forms, shotguns tearing through the mutated beings that used to be a squad of UNSC marines. Through another hallway, they reached the outside. An Elite and four Grunts fired at a pair of Infection Forms, destroying them, and then popped the Infection Forms. They spotted the human pair and fired, and a 40mm rifle grenade killed the Grunts and drained the Elite's shields, leaving it vulnerable to a rifle shot to the head.

"Okay," Cortana said, "let's take care of the next pulse generator". A Banshee flew in, firing at the two while deliberately staying too high to be hijacked. A few particle-beam shots blew off its wings, and it slammed into a cliff wall. The Chief walked over to an overturned Ghost and flipped it right-side up, hopping in. Another Ghost, driven by a Grunt, drove in and opened fire. Teana shot the driver through the head and stole his ride. The two Spartans went down into the trench and looked inside the dead-end hallways at its bottom, finding a rocket launcher and many spare rocket packs. Teana loaded up, using Mirage's subspace storage to hold the extra rockets, and then the pair drove their Ghosts up the slope. Over the snowdrift, they found two new-model Shade turrets and a Wraith, along with several Grunts and two red-armored Elites. They gunned down the Elites & Grunts and slagged the Shades, and then turned their fire on the Wraith, strafing around and peppering it with plasma fire. After nearly a solid minute, the tank finally erupted in flames. The two moved on, passing through a short tunnel, but soon encountered those narrow pillars from yesterday, and had to dismount and continue on foot. Nearby, the battered, burnt wreck of the Scorpion was pressed against the canyon wall.

They soon reached a fallen Warthog that was otherwise intact, and by some extraordinary stroke of luck it had an M68 Gauss Cannon for a turret. The Chief flipped it right-side-up and got in the driver's seat, while Teana manned the gun. They drove up the curved rock-ramp, road-killing a quartet of Grunts, and drove through the canyon, reaching a large area with a huge tower in the middle, and the burnt carcass of the Wraith was still sitting on the large frozen lake as they rounded the corner. A Banshee flew in, firing a fuel-rod shot that missed, and a gauss shot obliterated it. They went right, encountering a Hunter pair that quickly fell to the hypersonic cannon shots. They then drove counterclockwise around the huge tower, soon encountering a Wraith. They dodged a plasma mortar and got behind it, and a shot from the big gun resulted in a gout of flame and a thoroughly mission-killed tank. Another Banshee met a similar fate seconds later. Ahead, two Elites guarded a pair of Banshees. The gauss cannon punched huge holes through their torsos, leaving a trail of semi-liquefied innards in the snow behind them. The Warthog drove up into the shadow of a nearby boulder, and the two Spartans dismounted and lowjacked the Banshees, flying up at a 75-degree angle.

At the top of the tower, there was a short two-on-one dogfight against an enemy Banshee, followed by a fuel-rod airstrike on the Covenant atop the tower, destroying their Shades and killing the Elite General. Another bombing took out the fuel-rod-gun-wielding Spec-Ops Grunts guarding the entrance to the generator, and the Banshees set down on the platform, the two Spartans heading inside. In the generator room, a horde of Combat Forms traded fire with Sentinels. A rocket from Teana's launcher killed the former, and another took out three of the five Sentinels, the remaining two being brought down by three shots from the Master Chief's shotgun. He carefully stepped into the beam of light, immediately triggering the EMP, and Teana moved to cover him. From the exit came a group of Combat Forms; she threw a frag grenade, and the CF holding a launcher pulled the trigger as it died, the explosion killing all but three of the Flood. The Chief rushed forward as his shield began to charge, killing two with the shotgun and punching into and through the chest of the third, ripping the Infection Form out and crushing it. The Spartan pair moved back out, stepping onto the platform and getting in their Banshees.

**The Tunnels Below**

They flew down, landing next to their Gauss Hog and getting in it. As they began to head for the tunnel, Cortana gave an update.

"I've located the _Pillar of Autumn_. She put down 1,200 kilometers up-spin. Energy readings show her fusion reactors are still powered up. The systems on the _Pillar of Autumn_ have fail-safes that even I can't override, without authorization from the Captain. We'll need to find him, or his neural implants, to start the fusion core detonation. One target remaining. Let's take care of the final pulse generator."

The Warthog entered the tunnel, coming across yet another Covenant vs. Flood battle. The Chief floored it as they blazed through, flattening an Elite and two Combat Forms, and reached the bottom of the slope. As they approached the turn, a rocket soared right over their heads; Teana's return shot blew the Combat Form to bits, and they continued on. After a short drive through the tunnels, they reached a door. The Chief got out, hit the switch… and the door exploded. It managed to slide open just wide enough to let a person through, but there was no way the Warthog would fit. Teana used the cannon to kill the two Combat and two Carrier Forms that came through, and then dismounted. She & the Chief squeezed through the opening and headed right, moving toward the bridge. Halfway across, a swarm of Infection Forms came up over the edges, and a horde of Combat Forms popped up at the other end. The Chief dispatched the IFs with his assault rifle, and Teana fired several 40mm grenades at the Combat Forms, killing the launcher-wielding one and four others. The remaining six were close now, so she switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode, and she & John mowed them down. They crossed to the end, the Chief scavenging assault rifle ammo, and they then moved through the door. They followed the tunnels, eventually coming out to a snowy slope leading upward.

**Final Run**

They reached the top of the slope. Ahead, Grunts and Elites did battle with yet more Combat Forms, while a Banshee flitted about overhead. They went right, tossing a grenade to kill three Combat Forms and a Carrier Form. The Banshee killed the Infection Forms and then turned its attention to the Spartans. It passed low enough for a plasma grenade stick. Leaving the burning, twisted wreck to crash behind them, they moved toward the battle. A rocket from a Combat Form hit the Shade turret, destroying it, and then a plasma grenade thrown by an Elite stuck to said Combat Form, the blast destroying the launcher as well. The duo hung back, letting the two sides wear each other down, and then ran in and took down the few surviving Covenant, including the Elite Zealot with a concussion rifle. With the area clear, the Chief climbed aboard a Ghost, Teana jumping on and hanging onto the back. They moved on, reaching a frozen river and another Covenant vs. Flood fight, with a squad of Grunts and Jackals led by a red-armored Elite fighting a losing battle against a pack of Combat Forms. Another Flood, this one wielding a fuel rod gun, came out and slaughtered the Covenant team, and the Chief opened fire on it, taking it out of the equation first. The Ghost's guns made quick work of the others, and the hovercraft moved on.

They reached the next large area and parked atop a boulder, peering through their scopes at what lay ahead between them and a pair of Banshees. Two dozen Grunts, 15 Jackals, seven Skirmishers, a dozen Elites (four of them white-armored), six Brute Captains, two Brute Chieftains, four Shade turrets, two Wraiths, two Hunter pairs, and three Elite Zealots, one of them a Field Marshal. They gave each other a look.

No way in hell.

The Chief hit the boost on the Ghost, going balls-to-the-wall top speed and racing past the confused Covenant and the dozen Flood Combat Forms, heading straight for the Banshees. Once next to them, the two Spartans hopped out, got in the Banshees, and broke for 100 meters up as fast as possible, who-knows-how-many plasma balls & bolts of various size flitting past them as they made their hasty retreat. They quickly outran the Covenant and flew through the canyon, soon reaching the final door. The Sentinels guarding it were quickly shot down. The Banshees landed, and the Spartans dismounted and headed inside, where they found a new surprise: the five Sentinels guarding the final generator had energy shields. Teana switched to dual plasma-bolt pistol/rifle and went to work, blasting three down, while the Chief used his shotgun to destroy the other two. Finally, nothing stood between them and their goal. The Chief walked into the beam, triggering the familiar bang and EMP.

"Final target neutralized" Cortana said. "Let's get out of here."

"Let's find a ride and get to the Captain" John said.

"No, that'll take too long" Cortana replied.

"You have a better idea."

"There's a teleportation grid that runs throughout Halo. That's how the Monitor moves about so quickly. I learned how to tap into the grid while I was in the control center. Unfortunately, each jump requires a rather consequential expenditure of energy."

"Something tells me I'm not gonna like this."

"But I'm pretty sure I can pull the power from your suits without permanently damaging anything. And if I link up with Cross Mirage, he and I should be able to access some magic and use that to further stabilize the jump and lessen the energy cost needed to teleport you two. Needless to say, though, I think we should only try this once."

John looked to Teana, who nodded. "Do it."

The two AIs linked and began to weave the various energies. Golden rings encircled both Spartans, and a Midchildan magic circle flared to life beneath their feet. A flash of orange and golden light, and they were gone.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	20. Keyes

Here's Chapter 20

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Covenant **_**Sanghelios**_**-class Battlecruiser **_**Truth & Reconciliation **_**(Flood-controlled)**

**September 21****st**** 2552**

**0530 hours**

**Under New Management**

"The Covenant network is in absolute chaos. From what I've been able to piece together, their leadership ordered all ships to abandon Halo when they found the Flood, but they were too late. The Flood overwhelmed the _Truth & Reconciliation _and disabled it. The Covenant are _terrified _that the Flood will repair the ship and use it to escape from Halo. They've sent in a Special-Ops strike team to repair the ship for immediate departure. …I've got a good lock on Captain Keyes' CNI transponder signal. He's alive, and the implants are intact! There's some interference from the battlecruiser's damaged reactor. I'll bring us in as close as I can."

Cross Mirage detected and corrected the error in Cortana's teleportation coordinates, and thus the two Spartans rematerialized right-side-up instead of with their feet planted on the ceiling. They looked around, spotting loose panels, sparking wires, smoldering flames, and splotches of blood of every color. The TACMAP that Mirage's scan had provided during their previous raid on the ship revealed that they were currently very near the ship's bridge, and the transponder signal showed that the Captain was at the bridge. Unfortunately, all nearby doors were locked, and they would have to take the long way around. Suddenly, a voice came over the radio, low and in pain.

"Chief… don't be a fool. …Leave me…"

"Captain? _Captain?_" Silence greeted Cortana's call. "I've lost him."

They passed through a door ahead, spotting a Grunt being chased by an armless Flood Combat Form. They went left and scavenged some plasma grenades from a dead Elite, and then turned around to follow the chase. They found a trio of Grunts trying to fend off two Combat Forms. One Grunt fell to a CF's shotgun, and the Chief threw a frag grenade that killed the four remaining. A Carrier Form rounded the corner, and came apart under a hail of gunfire, its Infection Forms dying quickly as well. The duo followed the hallway until they reached a doorway to the hangar. Unfortunately, a massive hole blocked their entrance; whatever caused it had blasted through the entirety of the ship's hull, and pools of green coolant could be seen far below outside.

As they turned to find another way, several Flood dropped through a hole in the ceiling ahead, while several more came around the corner. The Spartans opened fire, blasting anything that got close with their shotguns, but the Flood seemed to be endless.

"Master," Cross Mirage said, "I suggest taking the plunge through the hole into the coolant below, and reentering the ship through its gravity lift. Scans show that our current location has no available access to the bridge, but there is a path – complicated though it may be – currently open from the gravity-lift hangar to the bridge."

"Agreed" Cortana said, "and these waves of Flood don't look like they're gonna stop any time soon."

The Spartan pair ran to the edge, crossed their fingers, and jumped. A few seconds later, they fell into a pool of coolant, the properties of the coolant and their energy shields protecting them from harm. They waded their way up and out, their VISRs giving them a clear image of the situation. Nearby, Combat Forms and Elites traded fire. As soon as the CFs went in close, John & Teana both tossed a frag grenade; the twin explosions ripped through the two factions of enemies, leaving only a single wounded Elite alive, and he was killed quickly by four assault rifle shots. They passed through a narrow canyon pass, and came across another larger area, lit by the highly reflective (or perhaps luminescent) large pool of coolant nearby. On the left, two Elites and two Grunts on the ground traded fire with a trio of Combat Forms perched on a narrow ledge to the right. A plasma grenade from the Chief dealt with the Combat Forms, and they then engaged the Covenant, the Chief using his assault rifle to take down the Grunts and an Elite, while Teana blew the other Elite's head off with Mirage Shotgun. Three more Combat Forms charged in from the passage up ahead, and were laid low by the Spartans, who then continued through the passage.

As they were moving through, a Carrier Form dropped down in front of them from above, detonating on impact. The blast wave drained their shields by about one-fourth, and assault rifle fire from the Chief dealt with the Infection Forms. Three Carrier Forms and two Combat Forms later, they reached a small ledge overlooking another battle. Below and ahead, three red-armored Elites and two Hunters traded fire with a small horde of Combat Forms. Teana grabbed an SRS99C rifle that was lying nearby, and used it to kill the Hunters before she discarded it. The Flood continued to press forward toward the Elites, several of them crawling out of the small lake of coolant.

"The ship has sustained more damage than I expected" Cortana said. "Analyzing… Coolant leakage rate is significant; the ship's reactor should have already had a meltdown by now. Perhaps the Covenant's reactor technology has more efficient coolant systems than ours, or maybe their reactors are simply capable of taking more heat build-up for longer than UNSC reactors."

After a few minutes, the battle died down, the last Elite falling, while only four Combat Forms remained. They hopped down and waded to dry land, killing the wounded Combat Forms and continuing through another rock passage. In the next area, an old-model Shade manned by a Grunt, along with two other Grunts and a blue-armored Elite, opened fire on a pack of Combat Forms coming around the corner ahead. The Flood were cut down by the combined plasma fire, and just as the Covenant relaxed a frag grenade from the Chief blew them all to hell. The Spartans moved on, rounding the corner and working through another group of Combat Forms supported by Infection Forms, dropping down the ledge when they were through. They moved through and encounter yet another Elite-led group of Grunts confronting a pack of Combat and Carrier Forms, but this time the Flood won. A plasma grenade picked up from off the ground cleared out most of them, and shots from Mirage Rifle dealt with the Combat Forms perched on the ledges above. Teana then grabbed a needler from the dead Grunt, along with several ammo crystals for it, clipping it to her hip.

They passed through another canyon passage, killing another pack of Infection Forms, and finally they reached the gravity lift. Atop a rock plateau, at the lift's base, a force of Covenant Special-Ops made a desperate defense against multiple waves of Flood forms. The Spartans fought their way up, and when they reached the top they did something unexpected: the opened fire on the Flood while leaving the Elites alone, even moving to fill in a hole in the Spec-Ops soldiers' defense. Over the next few minutes, the impromptu alliance fended off the waves of Flood, until finally the gravity lift hoisted them all up into the ship.

**Upstairs, Downstairs**

"We should be able to get to the ship's control room from here" Cortana said. John and the Elite leader simply shared a silent look, and the Elites then went off on their own, heading toward engineering, while the Spartans turned and started toward the bridge. They moved through a few hallways, soon reaching coming out on the top level of a two-level storage room.

"Look, in the corners" Cortana said. "The Flood are gathering bodies."

They tossed a few grenades to clear out the Flood below, and then leapt down, their shields absorbing the landing. They entered another hallway and followed it, reaching a hole that had been built into the floor, and from which the next level down could be seen. John dropped a plasma grenade to kill the three Carrier Forms below, and then a frag grenade to kill the Infection Forms. They dropped down, turning right a little ways ahead to find another Flood vs. Covenant fight. The two Spartans had popped up behind the Flood, and a few 40mm grenades from Mirage Rifle thinned them out, with some rifle fire taking care of the rest. They moved on and encounter two Elites – one Minor and one Major – and three Grunts – all Major. They were clustered together, so Teana hefted the rocket launcher she still carried and fired a rocket, blowing them all to hell. They moved on, and soon reached a hangar.

"We should be able to reach the control room from the third floor" Cortana said.

"I… gave you an order, soldier" Keyes' voice came over the comm., slurred and strained. "Now pull out!"

"He's delirious!" Cortana shouted. "In pain! We have to help him!"

They hurried along the second floor, reaching an outcropping holding an old-model Shade manned by an Elite. They rushed past, avoiding an unnecessary skirmish, and entered the next hallway. They found a quartet of Grunts running toward them, running _away _from a group of Combat and Carrier Forms. Teana fired a rifle grenade over the Grunts' heads, hitting the Flood and triggering the Carriers' detonations, which killed the Combat Forms. Full-auto fire popped the Infection Forms. The Chief gestured toward the exit, and the Grunts wisely passed them and headed into the hangar. The Spartans moved on, going up a level and using a pair of plasma grenades to take out another group of Combat and Infection Forms. They came out at the third level of the hangar, just as a Phantom flew in and dropped off a team of Special-Ops Covenant troopers. They turned right, following a NAV point, throwing a few plasma grenades to kill the Combat Forms waiting up ahead. They entered this next hallway, making a few more turns and reaching a hallway bordering the control room.

**The Captain**

An agonized groan came over the radio, horrible, barely human.

"The Captain! His vitals are fading! Please, we have to hurry!"

Ahead, a team of Covenant was overrun by a large force of Combat Forms. The two Spartans waded in, shotguns blazing, and carved a path to the control room, leaving a trail of spent shotgun shell casings behind them. Finally, they entered the control room.

"The Captain's vitals…" Cortana muttered in shock. "They've just stopped. He… he just died… seven seconds ago…"

_Damn it_.

At the central podium, a massive, bloated Flood form 'stood', apparently looking at the control panels. Tendrils anchored it to the walls and ceiling. Six tendrils stretched to the floor. Only, on closer inspection, the floor tendrils were legs. Four were Elite legs, and… Teana looked at the creature, noticing a shape in the side… and then recoiled in absolute horror. John followed her eyes… and suddenly felt a mixture of horror and nausea as he recognized the shape of Captain Jacob Keyes' face, embedded in the side of the creature and frozen in an expression of agony. He had been completely absorbed by the Flood Brain Form.

"We…" Cortana struggled out, still in shock. "We can't let the Flood get off this ring. You know what he'd expect… what he'd _want _us to do."

John nodded, and drew his hand back. Teana turned her head away, flinching at the horrible, sickening crunch as John punched his way into the Captain's skull, reaching through a half-dissolved/eaten brain and grabbing hold of the neural implant. He yanked it out, shaking the gore off of it, and slotted it into his helmet.

"It's done" Cortana said lowly and solemnly. "I have the code. …We should go."

Teana took out a trio of plasma grenades, carefully wedged them into the disgusting creature's body, and set them to remote detonation. She saw something by her foot, bent down, and picked up the Captain's old-style pipe. She placed it in subspace storage, along with the box containing Noble Team's dog-tags. She and the Chief looked at each other, and then he put his hand on her shoulder.

"We need to get back to the _Pillar of Autumn_" Cortana said. "Let's go back to the hangar and find a ride".

Suddenly, as if summoned by the hideous creature, Flood Combat Forms began to pour into the room. The Spartans took advantage of the fact that they were on a raised platform with only a single, narrow way onto it, and that the Flood had to funnel their way toward them. But soon enough, the presence of Combat Forms wielding weapons forced them to drop off the back of the platform, which turned out to be good since the bottom floor had so much more room to maneuver in. Further good fortune came as a door on the left opened, and from it came a team of Covenant Special-Ops, who did not see the Spartans and who the Flood turned to focus on. Two Grunts opened fire with their fuel rod guns, blasting several Combat Forms into pieces, as the Elites charged forward with plasma swords and cut several more down. The black-armored team quickly managed to wipe out the Flood without losses, and as they crossed the room the two Spartans took their chance, running past them and out the door, hearing a surprised shout as an Elite spotted them, but chose not to give chase.

They quickly reached the hangar, and two Banshees flew in and settled on the first floor. They looked at each other, nodded, and sprinted out, blitzing past another Spec-Ops team and avoiding a few shots sent their way. They ran through a door to a hallway that led down to the bottom floor. Halfway down, they encountered three Grunts and a Hunter pair doing battle with some Flood. They continued past, avoiding detection. They fought their way down through a few Combat Forms and Elites, and soon reached the first floor. After a few seconds, they sprinted for the Banshees. Plasma bolts whizzed by them, a few impacting their shields, but they reached the two aircraft and climbed aboard, immediately boosting out and flying off into the night.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	21. The Maw

Here's Chapter 21

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 04**

**Crash site of the UNSC **_**Halcyon**_**-class Cruiser **_**Pillar of Autumn**_

**September 21****st**** 2552**

**0740 hours**

…**And The Horse You Rode In On**

A huge, burnt trench led to a massive ship, its silver hull blackened by plasma fire and the heat of an uncontrolled rapid descent through the atmosphere. The nose of the ship hung over the edge of a huge cliff, but the rest of the vessel was on solid ground, and the sturdiness of the ship's construction meant that there was no chance of all or even part of the ship taking the plunge. A pair of Banshees flew in toward it, heading for the empty lifepod docks. One was doing fine, but the other was trailing smoke and flying erratically.

"This thing is falling apart!"

"It'll hold."

"We're not gonna make it!"

"We'll make it."

"Pull up! _Pull up!_"

Shortly after the first Banshee came in for a soft landing inside a docking port, the second one crashed into the wall directly below one.

"…You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

A green armored hand came into view, and the Spartan pulled himself up into the hole. He found his smaller, younger partner standing there waiting for him; she shook her head in mild exasperation. Teana, remembering something, sent a signal over her suit's comm. Several hundred kilometers away, three plasma grenades detonated, scattering burnt chunks of Brain Form all over the _Truth & Reconciliation_'s bridge.

"We need to get to the bridge" Cortana said. "From there, we can use the Captain's neural implants to initiate an overload of the ship's fusion reactors. The explosion should cause enough damage to destroy the ring."

They moved left, turning a corner and entering a maintenance access-way. A little ways in, from a gap with a ladder going down to the next level down came a pack of Infection Forms. A burst of assault rifle fire took them out. Down below, Infection and Carrier Forms were wiped out by a trio of Sentinels. Teana dropped down, having switched Cross Mirage to dual plasma-bolt guns, and shot them down. The Chief dropped in behind her, and they went left, passing an airlock. Ahead, four Combat Forms came around the next bend and ran toward the Spartans; the Chief blasted them with his shotgun, while Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode and gunned down one that survived. They continued on, reaching a locked door that was soon busted down from the other side, revealing three Combat Forms and a swarm of Infection Forms. A 40mm rifle grenade killed them all. Further in the hallway, a Carrier Form was used as an impromptu bomb by the Spartans to kill two more Combat Forms, and Teana used her device/rifle to kill the Infection Forms that spawned from it.

The hallway led to the mess hall, where a Covenant Special-Ops team easily took down a small force of Combat Forms. Teana used a few three-round bursts to kill the two fuel-rod-gun-wielding Grunts and the needler-wielding Grunt, and then she charged in, switching to full auto, while the Chief readied his assault rifle and followed her in. They split, flanking to either side, and opened fire on one Elite each. The Elites, tired from the preceding fight against Flood, went down quickly. They moved through, and finally reached the bridge, killing the Spec-Ops Elite and two Spec-Ops Grunts guarding it. The Chief walked up to the holo-tank, pulled Cortana out of his helmet, and slipped her in. She looked around.

"I leave home for a few days," she said, "and look what happens. This won't take long."

She put her hand to her head, and a second later a countdown appeared on the holo-screen behind her: 14:00.

"There. That should give us enough time to make it to an escape method and put some distance between us and Halo before the detonation."

The Chief began to reach down to withdraw Cortana, when suddenly a voice cut in.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question, really."

"Oh, hell…" Cortana and Teana said simultaneously.

"Ridiculous!" Guilty Spark's voice said. "That you would imbue a warship's AI with such a wealth of knowledge! Weren't you worried she might be captured, or destroyed?"

The Spartans looked everywhere, weapons raised, but found nothing.

"He's in my data arrays" Cortana said. "A local tap."

Further down in the ship, the Monitor flitted about, collecting data from various terminals.

"You can't imagine how exciting this is! To have a record of all of our lost time! 'Human history', is it? Fascinating. Oh, how I will enjoy every moment of its categorization! To think you would destroy this installation, _as well as this record_! I _am _shocked; almost too shocked for words."

Back at the bridge, the timer froze at 13:08.

"He's stopped the self-destruct sequence!"

"Why do you continue to fight me, Reclaimers? You cannot win! Give me the construct, and I will endeavor to make your deaths relatively painless and-"

There was a beep, and the Monitor's voice was cut off.

"At least I still have control over the comm. channels" Cortana said.

"Where is he?" John asked.

"I'm detecting taps throughout the ship – Sentinels, most likely. As for the Monitor… he's in Engineering. He must be trying to take the core offline. If he does that, then even if I could get the self-destruct sequence restarted… I don't know what to do."

"How much firepower would you need to disable each reactor's containment system?"

"Not much. A well-placed grenade or rocket, perhaps. But why…"

The Chief juggled a frag grenade in his hand, while Teana hefted her launcher.

"…Okay, I'm coming with you two."

John reached down and grabbed Cortana's chip from the terminal, slotting it back into his helmet. At this time, a quartet of Sentinels appeared outside the busted window and opened fire. The Chief's shields flared as they absorbed the attacks, and he & Teana returned fire. Shotgun blasts from the Chief killed the two on the left, while Teana's rifle shot the other two out of the sky.

"The ship was heavily damaged when it crashed" Cortana said. "Head to the cryo-chamber; we should be able to get to the engine room through there."

They moved on, Teana switching Mirage to Shotgun Mode, and from the next door came a pack of Combat Forms. The two shotguns wiped them out – 12 in all – and the pair passed through the armory, the Chief stocking up on ammo. In the hall at the other end, two red-armored Elites and a Hunter pair engaged a pack of Combat Forms. The two titans' arm cannons made short work of the Flood. Teana leaned out and fired two rockets, one at each Hunter. As she reloaded the launcher, the Master Chief tossed a frag grenade that killed the heavily wounded Hunters and drained the Elites' shields. He ran in and used his assault rifle to cut them down. They moved on through the next hallway, making a few turns, and came to another area where four shielded Sentinels were busy wiping out a cluster of Infection Forms. They waited until all Flood were dead, and the Chief then tossed a plasma grenade. It stuck to one of the Sentinels, and detonated before it could distance itself from its comrades, the blast destroying all four of them.

The Spartans passed under a wedged-open door, and followed a hallway into Cryo-Bay B. Inside was a hectic battle between Sentinels and Flood; they dashed through the mayhem, scrambling up a ladder and following a catwalk to the bay's control booth. They headed left, shotgunning their way through a huge group of Combat and Carrier Forms, and entering another maintenance tunnel. After a while of making several turns, they reached the next hallway, to find a three-way battle between eight Sentinels, a horde of Flood of various forms, and a Covenant force consisting of three Grunts, two black-armored Elites, and a Hunter pair. The Spartans hung back and watched the show for several minutes. Finally, all the Sentinels and most of the Flood were dead, along with all the Grunts and one of the Elites. They leapt out, Teana running and firing at the Elite while the Chief stuck a plasma grenade to one Hunter's back and unloaded into the other's with the shotgun. The surprised and wounded Covenant trio was quickly dealt with, and the Spartan duo moved on, following red arrows on the floor until they reached a large, multi-leveled room: Engineering.

**Light Fuse, Run Away**

"The Monitor has disabled all command access" Cortana said. "We can't restart the proper self-destruct sequence. The only remaining option is to fatally destabilize the reaction containment systems. That should make a big enough blast to destroy Halo. Don't worry; I have access to all of the reactor schematics and procedures. I'll walk you through it. First, we need to pull back the exhaust couplings. That will expose a shaft that leads to the primary fusion drive core."

The Spartans crossed the room, bypassing and outrunning a small group of Infection Forms, and entered a hallway leading up to the second floor. Up there, they ran into a group of Combat and Carrier Forms, and wiped them out with a little effort. They entered the hallway leading up to the third floor, and at the top had to kill _another _group. Finally, they reached the catwalk that connected to the four terminals. They split up, the Chief heading to the far side while Teana stayed in the current section. They each hit the two terminals on their respective sides, opening the ports.

"Good! Cortana said. "Step one complete! We have a straight shot into the fusion reactor! We need catalyst explosions to destabilize the magnetic containment field surrounding the fusion cells."

As the pillars retracted, the Chief jumped down to the bottom, while Teana ran along the retracting pillar nearest to her and jumped to the second floor platform. John threw a pair of frag grenades into the two ports on his side, while Teana used her launcher to shoot the two on her side. The pillars began to close, the ship began to shake & shudder, and a low alarm began to sound as the Chief made his way around and up to Teana's position.

"That did it!" Cortana said. "The core's containment systems are completely offline, and the reactors are undergoing a fatal destabilization, which is spreading to the remaining deuterium reserves. Based on the current rate of things, we should have around 15 minutes to get off the ship. We should move outside and signal for evac. Accessing schematics… There's a service lift at the top of this room; it leads to a service corridor that runs along the ship's dorsal structure. Hurry!"

The two Spartans made haste up to the top floor and through a highlighted doorway, following a hall as the ship continued to shake, small explosions chaining throughout the area. At the end, the elevator they needed to reach descended… revealing the Special-Ops Elite named Zuka 'Zamamee, the Spartans' long-time hunter, and his three Spec-Ops Grunts (Lipdip, Vakab, and Embib, if you're curious). Teana fired a rifle grenade, killing the Grunts, and the Chief rushed in with his shotgun. Zuka dodged his shot and swung, hitting the Chief with a haymaker. The stunned Spartan repaid the blow with a roundhouse kick to the chest. Teana tossed him Cross Mirage in Longsword Mode; the Chief caught the hilt, activated the energy blade, and stabbed Zuka through the chest. The alien gave the Spartan a look of utter shock, and his eyes rolled back. The Elite collapsed to the floor and stopped moving, a final breath exiting his body. John tossed Teana her sword, which she deactivated and switched to dual pistol mode, and she stepped aboard the lift. The door sealed shut, John hit the switch, and the elevator began to rise.

"Cortana to Echo-419. Come in, Echo-419."

"Roger, Cortana" Foehammer's voice replied. "I read you five-by-five."

"The _Pillar of Autumn_'s engines are about to blow, Foehammer. We need immediate extraction. Approach the crash site and be ready to pick us up at External Access Junction 4-C as soon as you get my signal."

"Affirmative. Echo-419 going on station, along with my new little buddy."

"Little buddy?" Teana questioned.

"A defector; a Spec-Ops Grunt named Yayap. He's a pretty cool little fella. Things sound like they're gettin' pretty noisy down there. Everything okay?"

**Warning: Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Convicts**

"Negative!" Cortana replied. "The reactor containment systems are out, and the core is undergoing a catastrophic failure! In less than 10 minutes, everything within 150 kilometers of this ship is gonna get blown to Hell!"

The two Spartans ran out into the vehicle bay, hopping in a Warthog; John took the driver's seat, while Teana manned the gun. The Warthog came to life and pulled out of its holding pit, turning left into the start of the long corridor and flattening a few Elites and Flood forms.

"We have less than seven minutes before the fusion drives detonate" Cortana said to the Spartans. "We need to evac now! The explosion will generate temperatures of almost 100,000,000 degrees; _don't _be here when it blows."

The Warthog raced through, swerving around pillars and driving past hostiles; as they went, Teana fired the big gun at anything that got in their way or fired at them. They drove through multiple skirmishes: Flood vs. Covenant; Flood vs. Sentinels; Covenant vs. Sentinels; and good old-fashioned three-ways. Several hallways, wide and narrow, were sped through, and the Warthog's front end was soon dripping with bits of Flood that had been rammed. Eventually, they reached EAJ 4-C and came to a halt. On the left, Pelican Echo-419 came flying in, its rear engines trailing flames from the two Banshees chasing it. An overcharged plasma bolt flew from the dropship's open rear door, hitting one of the Banshees and frying its systems, sending it plummeting. Another bolt hit the other. But the Pelican was too badly damaged. As it flew directly over the Warthog, less than 20 feet above them, two figures jumped out the back and landed in the Warthog, being caught by the Spartans: a woman in pilot's armor, and a black-armored Grunt. The pilotless Pelican continued to fall, trailing smoke, and several seconds later it exploded.

Foehammer watched her bird die, and then turned to the Spartans. "Now what?"

"The ship's inventory shows one Longsword fighter still docked in Launch Bay 7" Cortana said. "If we move _now_, we can make it!"

Foehammer hopped in the passenger's seat, readying her pistol, while Yayap nestled in on the 'floor' in front of Teana, in the space that was in fact designed to carry an extra person just in case. "How ya doin'?" he said. "I hope you guys have a _really _good reason for destroying the Holy Ring."

"To destroy the Flood outbreak and prevent it from spreading" Teana replied.

"…Good enough for me. I never really followed the Great Journey thing too closely, anyway."

John hit the accelerator, and the Warthog took off. They drove through a few more tunnels, shooting anything that got in the way, and reached something unforeseen: a huge drop to the level below (Yayap, as they fall: "SSSSSHIIIIIIIIT!") The Warthog bounced on landing, and sailed over another, considerably smaller jump into the next hallway. Explosions went off all around them as they passed. Finally, they reached the entrance to the hangar.

"That's the ship!" Cortana shouted. "Move! We need to get aboard _now_!"

The odd, striped barrels blocking their way were destroyed by an explosion, leaving the Warthog free to zoom past the Covenant and Flood, and drive right up to the ramp leading to the Longsword. The four passengers dismounted and sprinted for the fighter, Yayap galloping on all fours to keep up. A horde of Combat Forms pursued them. They got aboard the Longsword, the Master Chief bringing up the rear as he backpedaled while firing at the Flood. As he entered, he hit the switch to close the hatch. Another explosion rocked the _Autumn_, and the Chief stumbled and had to grab hold of a wall to steady himself.

"We're cutting it close!"

He regained balance and ran to the cockpit, getting in the pilot's seat. Buttons were pushed, and the fighter's engines came to life.

"Here we go."

The Longsword hovered, turned 180 degrees, and shot out of the hangar. As hordes more of Flood approached the fallen ship, the lone starfighter shot off into the sky, engines running full throttle to escape the incoming destruction. Those aboard gripped their seats, some praying that they would escape in time. Their prayers were answered.

As the Longsword soared off into space, the _Pillar of Autumn_'s reactors finally blew, and a tiny star flared into existence on the surface of Halo. Shockwaves rippled up and down the ring, flattening everything in their path, as a humongous electromagnetic pulse enveloped the area, triggering auroras in the nearby gas giant's upper atmosphere. After several seconds, the miniature Sun exhausted its deuterium fuel and winked out of existence. Halo was unable to continue holding itself together with the new weak spot and with the stresses of the blast's effects. Slowly, gravity, rotation, and centripetal force worked together and took their toll, and the ringworld tore itself apart. A massive chunk, hundreds of kilometers long, spun free and cleaved through an intact portion, shearing it in half; the damaged portion promptly began to fragment further, as the 100,000-year-old construct was systematically destroyed. The ring's environment systems abruptly failed, and the atmosphere was blown away. Exposed to the cold vacuum of space, Covenant suffocated and keeled over, while the Flood also quickly succumbed to the effects of dead space. Thanks to the foolish actions of Major Silva and the final decision of Lt. McKay, there were no humans alive to be killed by the ring's destruction, excepting a single dropship, carrying four people who rode out the chaos, and a lone cryo-pod whose occupant was, by some definitions, already dead. Portions of the ring smashed into and obliterated the few Covenant ships remaining near the ring, whose crews' last moments involved watching their most sacred of relics come apart before their eyes.

"Did anyone else make it?"

Cortana, in response to John's question, extended the Longsword's scanners. "Just dust and echoes. We're all that's left."

Foehammer slumped in her seat, and Yayap finally turned his head away from the destruction. Teana removed her helmet, holding it in her lap. John shook his head.

"We… we did what we _had _to do, for Earth. A Covenant fleet obliterated, and the Flood… we had no choice. …Halo… It's finished."

"No… I think we're just getting started…"

John sat down, slotted Cortana into the Longsword's systems, and removed his helmet. He stared out into space, wondering what came next.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	22. First Strike

Here's Chapter 22. This will be a very trimmed-down version of the novel, so as not to make the fic any longer number-of-chapters-wise than it needs to be. Also, sorry about the wait; I didn't get my copy of the updated rerelease of _First Strike _until Christmas, and couldn't find my old copy. Plus, there's all my other new Christmas-gift stuff occupying my time, _and _finishing my current play-through (third play-through since I got the game) of _Kingdom Hearts 2_, leveling up to LV99 to take on Sephiroth and then the Final Boss.(Demyx claimed he wasn't much of a fighter… he _lied_; Xaldin was a close second in difficulty, and that blue-haired berserker Saïx was no pushover, either) Both of these things made this chapter take even longer to finish.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Soell System, amongst the wreckage of Halo Installation 04**

**September 21****st****, 2552**

Shortly after things settled down, Yayap had explained everything he knew about the Covenant to his new human allies – history, intra- and inter-species relations, beliefs, power structure, hierarchy, and more on the mounting political strain that Chen S-Yar had mentioned. The Covenant were revealed to the humans to be even more theocratic than previously assumed, as well as larger; even with losing over 200 ships at Reach, the Covenant Navy still stood at over 1,100 warships. There wasn't a snowflake's chance in Hell of the UNSC defeating the Covenant in a straight-up brawl; the only hopes were guerilla strikes and working to further exacerbate the Covenant's instability and hope that it reached breaking point before humanity was crushed. In exchange for the wealth of data, Cortana had revealed her own discoveries.

Now, Yayap sat in horrified silence as Cortana finished explaining to him and to Carol "Foehammer" Rawley about the truth behind Halo. How the Forerunners did not gloriously fight off the Flood and then ascend to the afterlife, but had instead suffered a horrible, thorough, absolute total defeat by the parasite and had then resorted to exterminating _everything _– including themselves – in a final, and ultimately failed, attempt to starve the Flood into extinction. Everything that the Covenant was built on was a lie. And what may or may not have been worse was that, perhaps, even the Prophets believed it; Cortana had confirmed from her brief times in Covenant systems after spending time inside Halo's CPU that the Covenant's translations of Forerunner text, which the Covenant, the Great Journey, and nearly everything else was based upon, was almost-100% composed of serious mistranslations and errors. He shook his head, overcome by the foolishness and futility of it all. Teana & Carol worked to cheer him up, and in the process, they unwittingly strengthened his conviction to help the UNSC. When he composed himself, Yayap made a solemn vow: he would do everything in his power to help reveal the truth to his brethren and those who supported him, and help put a stop to this senseless war once and for all.

"Scan again" John said.

"Look," Cortana said, now rather exasperated, "I've scanned several times already. There's no-one else out there."

"Have you tried a passive scan?"

"And check out every single piece of debris that's out there? Do you have any idea how long that would take?"

"Look, Cortana" Teana piped in. "In case you didn't notice, this Longsword is not FTL-capable, and we only have around two weeks' worth of food aboard, and that's _before _you take our two extras into consideration. No-one knows we're out here, and has no reason to believe we survived Reach. So no-one's coming to help us. And we have no way to get home. So we are all going to starve to death unless we find a way out of this system. So… scan again, or we are _dead_."

Cortana sighed, remembering that her organic allies could only last so long but still convinced that there was nothing that could be done. She turned her attention back to the scanners.

"Hey… I've got something!"

"What is it?" Foehammer asked.

"…Uh-oh…"

In the distance, slipspace parted, and seven Covenant ships entered the system: two frigates, four destroyers, and a seventh ship that was somewhere between a battlecruiser and an assault carrier in size.

COVENANT _PIETY_-CLASS FRIGATE – 1,000 METERS

COVENANT _PURITY_-CLASS DESTROYER – 1,230 METERS

COVENANT _REVERENCE_-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER – 3,000 METERS

"Shut down all systems except life support and whatever you need to stay online, Cortana!" John ordered. "Go dark!"

"A _Reverence_-class…" Yayap muttered. "It's been _years _since I've seen one."

"What class of ship is it?" Teana asked.

"Heavy cruiser" he replied. "It's slightly less heavily armed than an assault carrier, with two energy projectors and seven plasma-torpedo launchers; it can only fire one projector or two torpedoes at a time, though. They're used as flagships for small task-forces. Two or three of them together have enough combined ground soldiers to conquer the average planet. A lot of big-name Fleet-Masters in the Covenant first really made names for themselves on a _Reverence_-class, including Admiral Vadamee and High-Admiral Wattinree; most of the Elite Ship-Masters say that once you've got command of a _Reverence_, you know you're destined for greatness."

"Who are those two you mentioned?"

"Thel Vadamee is one of the highest-ranking human-respecters. He was in command of the fleet that attacked Reach, which is probably why you managed to get so many civilians off-planet and out-system. His flagship was the supercarrier _Long Night of Solace_, though he wasn't aboard it when it was destroyed. High Admiral Xytan Jar Wattinree is one of the biggest names in the Navy. He's so charismatic and respected and has so many 'followers' that the Prophets got scared of his influence and stuck him out at a dead-end post. He commands the supercarrier _Sublime Transcendence_."

As the lights went out and the engine went dark, the Longsword's occupants stared at the enemy, the Spartans feeling more helpless than they had in quite some time. Suddenly, the Chief spotted something floating in space up ahead: a cryo-pod, ejected from the _Pillar of Autumn _before its crash-landing. He ordered Cortana to bring just enough power up to enable a better look, and the pods then slowly rotated to reveal the left-most one's occupant: Linda-058. The female Spartan had taken a few bad hits during an op over Reach to destroy an ONI Prowler and prevent its navigation data from falling into Covenant hands. She'd been left clinically dead, and placed in emergency cryo until she could be brought to a proper UNSC medical facility. And then things had gone even more pear-shaped at Reach, resulting in the _Autumn_'s retreat from the system, and the events at Halo-04. John had assumed her lost, either having perished in the crash, or her pod hunted down and destroyed by the Covenant. But now there she was.

The following plan went off without a hitch, the Chief drifting out from the Longsword's rear compartment, grabbing hold of the cryo-pods, and being pulled back in by Cortana. Unfortunately, the movement of the Longsword seemed to catch the Covenant's attention, and a frigate began to make its way toward them. Suddenly, from a chunk of Halo detached a Pelican dropship, which fired a barrage of rockets and shot off into space. The frigate was caught off-guard with its shields down, but the rockets – meant to take out tanks – did very little to the starship's thick hull. The Pelican jetted away, flitting amongst various house-sized pieces of Halo to throw off the enemy's tracking systems. The Longsword, sealed tight and passengers safely aboard, came to life and followed the vessel. The Chief contacted the dropship's pilot, and she agreed to link up with the Longsword in a slingshot around the nearby moon. The two vessels shot past the heavy cruiser, entering a maneuver that left them plenty of time to connect to each other and have the Pelican's personnel transfer over.

"Be advised," Cortana contacted the dropship, "we have a Covenant defector on board. Do not shoot. I repeat: do not shoot".

"Copy that" the pilot replied.

The connection hatch opened, and a dark-skinned man pulled himself through. There was some astonishment and aggression, but Cortana's scans certified a total lack of Flood infection, and thus the Chief slowly lowered his pistol from First-Sergeant Avery Johnson's head. Coming through next were Warrant Officer (Grade 2) Jane Polaski, Corporal Timothy Locklear, and ONI Lieutenant Elias Haverson. They looked at the mixed collection of fellow survivors – a Spartan-II, a smaller Spartan, another Pelican pilot, an AI, and a Spec-Ops Grunt defector – with varying reactions.

The Master Chief then revealed his plan: they would board the Covenant heavy cruiser and, with Cortana running roughshod through its systems, capture it and use it to make their way home. They would send the Pelican ahead on remote pilot to draw fire, while the Longsword flew into one of the warship's hangar bays; from there, the soldiers would infiltrate and annihilate, making their way up to the bridge, while Cortana went into the ship's systems and messed around. They prepared, Cortana reluctantly relinquishing control of the Longsword to Polaski in order to focus on assaulting the enemy ship's targeting systems. The two crafts came flying out from behind the moon, using their gravity to slingshot directly toward the _Reverence_-class. The Pelican, laden with mines, raced ahead, drawing fire from the enemy ships. Some mines broke free, following pre-programmed instructions to fly into any enemy vessel that came within range. Just as a plasma bolt vaporized the empty Pelican, Cortana tapped into the heavy cruiser's weapons systems and temporarily disabled them, and a pack of Seraphs from the ship smacked into a few of the mines. At the last moment, the Longsword spun so it was hurtling back-end-first toward the open hangar, its engines at maximum burn in an attempt to slow the vehicle down.

The fighter entered the hangar at almost 1,100 kilometers per hour, smashing through Grunts & Engineers and skidding across the deck, coming to a stop on the opposite side of the hangar, less than 10 meters from the wall. Inside, the soldiers picked themselves up off the ground and readied weapons. Polaski hit a few buttons, and the Longsword's landing gear deployed, raising it off the ground and freeing the guns to shred the enemy Grunts inside the hangar, also destroying nearly all of the fighters and dropships. Yayap and Foehammer volunteered to stay and guard the Longsword and the still-frozen Linda-052, and the rest of them leapt out with weapons ready, gunning down the few stunned survivors. The Master Chief led, Cortana in his armor, while Locklear, Polaski, & Johnson followed, and Teana & Haverson brought up the rear.

"This is odd" Cortana said suddenly. "I've looked at the ship's register, and there are 3,000 Covenant personnel aboard. The odd thing is that most of them are Engineers, with about 300 Grunts and a little under 100 Elites. Not what I expected from a warship."

"Maybe they weren't expecting a fight" Teana replied. "They must've not been expecting human presence, and came prepared for a nice, peaceful archaeological exploration of the ring, so they brought their tech specialists and not much else."

"Less work for us, then" Locklear said.

They made their way through a few off-guard Elites and into an Engineer access tunnel, Cortana being entered into the ship's systems. It was here that she was glad that Teana had arrived at Reach months ago. TSAB AIs weren't quite as advanced capability-wise as the UNSC's, but they had access to subspace data storage, which Halsey had been working without success to achieve for several decades. What this meant was that the growth of their memory matrices was unlimited – time or large amounts of accumulated data would not cause rampancy. Cortana and Cross Mirage had worked diligently to allow Cortana access to this, and had succeeded. Cortana was now free to absorb as much data as she pleased without ever having to worry about developing fatal feedback loops or such. Granted, sufficient psychological stress could still lead to Rampancy just as it would lead to mental damage or insanity in a human, but an AI's psyche was more durable than an organic's, so this was a rarity. Now, Cortana had an abundance of data from Halo-04, and was not slowed down by it in the slightest.

She detected something moving about in the systems, stalking her. A Covenant AI, perhaps? Intriguing… She sent schematics to the team, leading them to the bridge, and switched to external cameras. The other six Covenant ships were holding their fire, but multiple dropships were inbound. The assault team split up, Johnson leading Lanstar & Locklear through a smaller passage. A Covenant destroyer exited the system, and Cortana hacked into the environment controls, sucking the atmosphere out of hallways & compartments that the team wasn't going to pass through, killing nearly all of the Covenant soldiers aboard the ship. Then, her subroutine finished its rudimentary translation of the messages being sent between ships.

This was only an advance scouting group. There were more ships inbound. Hundreds of them, escorting… _High Charity_? What was that? She asked Yayap, and the answer startled her: the Covenant's homeworld was a gigantic mobile FTL-capable space station called _High Charity_, accompanied 24/7/365 by no less than 500 ships at any given time. And it was on its way to the Soell System, along with its entire escort.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

Teana stood, looking around the bridge of the ship, taking in the aftermath of the battle. Three Huragok – 'Engineers' – hovered at the stations. The black-armored Elite lay dead where she struck it; Teana had narrowly blocked a slice that would've cut Lt. Haverson open, and then speared through the alien's neck while it was preoccupied wrestling with the Chief. The ship rumbled as it made evasive maneuvers to avoid enemy fire; it had already taken an unshielded blow from a plasma torpedo, though thankfully by the time the massive plasma bolt worked through the weakened shields it had dissipated in power. The Chief and one of the Engineers went off, heading for engineering to repair the slipstream drive so they could jump out-system to safety. The ship – _Ascendant Justice_, Yayap had identified – headed toward Threshold, the humongous gas giant, with five Covenant ships in pursuit. The cruiser's weapons tried to fire, but fizzled out, the software for the magnetic field multiplier erased by the lingering enemy AI. Multiple bolts impacted the aft shields of the _Justice_, and a few made it through, burning through armor and hull.

Suddenly, the ship began to tremble; they were in Threshold's upper atmosphere. A few minutes later, a red panel on one of the consoles winked blue.

"Cortana," John radioed, "I've gotten to the power coupling. The Engineer appears to know what it's doing. You should have power for the Slipspace drive in a moment."

"It's too late" Cortana replied. "We are now too low to escape Threshold's gravity. Even at full power, we can't break out degrading orbit. And we can't enter Slipspace, either."

"Try something. Anything."

After a few seconds, the AI spoke again. "Amazing. The Covenant's resolution of the quantum filaments of space-time is several orders of magnitude greater than the UNSC's. Stand by; I think I can work with this."

Sure enough, several seconds later, space-time rippled and warped, and a fine rift appeared and swallowed up the _Ascendant Justice_.

After a few arguments, it was eventually decided: the ship would head to Reach, to find a salvageable UNSC ship and take it back to Earth (Cole Protocol, and whatnot). Teana & John followed Johnson & Locklear back to the hangar, to escort Foehammer & Yayap to the bridge and to retrieve Linda's cryo-pod. Neither of them heard Haverson's pistol fire, carrying out a distasteful act on an unfortunate Engineer.

525 light-years away, a Forerunner crystal activated, reaching through space-time and manipulating the currents of slipstream space, grabbing hold of the _Ascendant Justice _and pulling it 14 days back in time.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Epsilon Eridani System**

**Reach**

**September 7****th****, 2552**

The Spirit dropship lurched slightly as it entered Reach's ash-choked atmosphere, ignored by the 13 battlecruisers and two assault carriers that surrounded the planet, leaving Cortana, Yayap, and Polaski behind on the _Ascendant Justice_, while Foehammer flew the craft carrying John, Teana, Haverson, Johnson, & Locklear down through the heavy air and heading for a canyon, following the six-tone Spartan code. The two Spartans' hearts ached at the horrible devastation that met their eyes. Their own response code was sent, and they set down beneath an overhang. John exited, followed by Locklear. A few minutes later, John signaled them that it was all-clear. They entered a cavern just in time to hear him explaining the adventures at Halo to three other Spartans and a Vice-Admiral. The Admiral – Whitcomb – then explained how they'd survived.

Eventually, a rescue op plan was hatched, to fly the Spirit into Menachite Mountain (or what was left of it) and rescue the Spartans holed up under it. But before they left…

"Lil' Spartan" Whitcomb addressed Teana.

"Sir?"

"I understand you were a member of Noble Team, right?"

"…Yes, sir"

"There's somethin' you should see. I found it yesterday."

Whitcomb led Teana through a few caves, eventually coming to one that led to the outside. Teana looked around, and let out a shuddering gasp. Dozens of Covenant corpses littered the floor, choking the passage. And there, in the dead-end corner, surrounded by spent shell casings, Jun's body leaned against the rock wall. His sniper rifle was still in his lap, gripped in his hands. His armor was blackened and broken, and the faintest hint of dried blood surrounded him. After being wounded, he had fended off nearly an entire company of Covenant soldiers who had been sent to kill him and press on through the caves. He had killed every single one of them, successfully holding them off long enough to bleed to death.

30 minutes later, the group headed out. They had ultimately decided to leave Jun's body and those of the Covenant he'd killed where they lay, so any future comers would see and understand the fruitful results of Jun's final stand, his last shining moment.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

The captured dropship went straight down, riding the Covenant cruiser's gravity lift down into an utterly massive chamber. They touched down 500 meters from a group of Covenant who were apparently trying to clear a cave-in. Li remained in the ship as rear guard, while everyone else disembarked. Grace and Locklear fired a fuel rod gun and a rocket launcher, respectively, emptying their magazines at the cluster of Covenant. The explosions ripped through the enemy lines, killing around half of them. A grenade barrage took out another good chunk of them, and the last few were gunned down from behind, as another trio of Spartans emerged: Fred, Kelly, & Will. Several seconds later, Dr. Halsey came out as well. Teana was briefly entranced staring at the bluish-white crystal Halsey carried, but managed to tear herself away from it.

"Excellent timing, Vice-Admiral Whitcomb" she said. John, Teana, it's good to see you two alive"

Whitcomb nodded, and radioed their dropship. "Rawley, get down-"

He stopped when Johnson put a hand on his shoulder and nodded toward the far wall. The old Admiral's next question died in his throat. The rest of the group was confused by this.

"What's wrong?" Teana asked.

"Nobody. Move." Whitcomb replied.

Teana readied Mirage Rifle, looking around but not spotting anything. The only things in sight were the massive three-kilometer-wide cavern they were currently in, surrounded by 12 platforms ringing the edge, against the walls of the chamber and…

Her jaw dropped, and her weapon nearly followed.

John had at first thought them to be a mirage, hazy air and dust. He'd never thought so many Covenant could be so still. Thousands of them. Dozens of thousands. On the multiple levels, what looked like every Covenant soldier on Reach stood, staring at the tiny group of humans. Jackal shields snapped to life, and the air filled with the high-pitched whine of thousands of plasma weapons being readied.

"…Ffffuuuuckk…" Locklear quietly exhaled.

A Hunter pair roared and fired two explosive green bolts at the humans. One missed; Kelly took the hit from the other in order to shield Dr. Halsey; she then collapsed unconscious, her armor smoking and venting boiled hydrostatic gel. A second later, every other weapon in the entire chamber fired. But not at the humans.

The Hunters were near-instantly vaporized by the torrent of superheated plasma fire shot at them, as were several Covenant soldiers unfortunate enough to be near them. A Zealot on the uppermost gallery raised his voice and shouted.

"Take them! But the next one to fire upon the holy light will be skinned alive!"

The crystal.

As Halsey tended to Kelly, the Covenant charged, but did not fire. The humans had no such compunction, and opened up on them. Teana fired 40mm rifle grenades as fast as she could, and the other Spartans fired hundreds of rounds into the teeming masses. Foehammer's captured Spirit flew in, the plasma cannon opening fire on the enemy, and everyone piled inside, Fred securing the unconscious Kelly. The craft began to head for the hole in the ceiling, while the Covenant below bayed for blood. The gravity lift started trying to push them down, but the crystal Dr. Halsey carried opened up like a flower and pulsed green, and the gravity lift completely shut down. As the Spirit shot into the open sky, the crystal returned to its original shape. A bulbous shape hung in the sky directly above them.

COVENANT _RESOLUTION_-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER – 1,100 METERS

As the dropship ascended, four Seraphs attempt to box them in. Foehammer responded by ramming the one directly ahead. As they reached orbit, they found three times as many enemy warships as there had been last time – including cruisers, battlecruisers, light carriers, and an assault carrier.

COVENANT _RESILIENCE_-CLASS LIGHT CARRIER – 1,455 METERS

COVENANT _COUNCILOR_-CLASS ASSAULT CARRIER – 5,346 METERS

There was also some wreckage, still glowing with heated metal; Cortana's cover had been blown, apparently, and she had slagged a few ships and then made a hasty retreat. Before Locklear could even open his mouth to insult her for abandoning them, the _Ascendant Justice _reappeared from slipspace directly ahead… with a UNSC frigate attached to the top of it, the grey and black vessel's top-side attached to the _Justice_'s. The combination of the hybrid vessel's sudden presence and its bizarre appearance stunned the Covenant long enough for the Spirit to get aboard. The hybrid ship fired, destroying two enemy cruisers. Space-time rippled, and the hybrid vessel entered slipspace. But something was wrong. This was not the normal "tunnel" that had nothing in the visible spectrum. Instead, it was space… where there shouldn't have been space. A blue tinge was everywhere, and anything within 1,000 kilometers was not visible. Also, this strange pocket realm held more than the hybrid ship; 14 Covenant ships appeared from the 'fog', and fired.

In the hangar, everyone looked out the viewport at the bizarre scene outside.

"…What." Teana said in a stunned monotone. She looked at the readings that Cross Mirage holo-projected. "…What… what is this I don't even…"

"This crystal somehow warps space-time" Halsey replied, hefting the artifact which had again changed shape. "It did so in the cavern where we found it, and it has apparently done so again."

The nearest Covenant ship fired… and the plasma torpedoes curled and spiraled about, corkscrewing through the area. Some simply ceased existence, only to randomly appear somewhere else with a new trajectory. They raced up, down, left, right, forward, backward, everywhere _except _toward the _Ascendant Justice_. When Cortana attempted to return fire, the plasma beams helixed and flew about, joining the few dozen plasma torpedoes flitting around. Three bolts hit the nearby enemy cruiser, fatally damaging it. A bolt hit the _Justice_'s starboard side, and another hit the aft end, but the shields held. Barely. Whitcomb ordered the hangar blast-doors sealed, and Cortana complied.

As the group headed toward the bridge, the ship lurched, and explosions chained through parts of the hull.

"Turrets 1 and 7 destroyed" Cortana announced. "We have five left."

"Catherine, could you perhaps try to explain what the hell is going on?" Whitcomb said.

"I'd guess" Halsey replied, her adept mind struggling to come up with a simple enough explanation to satisfy the Vice-Admiral, "that the crystal artifact we've brought with us into slipspace has expanded the region. Physicists believe that slipstream space is a highly compressed version of normal space, layered over & under itself, like a ball of yarn. Now, imagine that _our _ball of yarn is looped and knotted. These threads are not solid, however; plasma, light, and matter jump from one thread to another given the slightest quantum fluctuation."

"Then what about our ship?" Haverson asked. "Why aren't wetangled and spread along a trillion alternate spatial pathways?"

"Because of the mass of the ship. We're substantial enough that we smooth out some of the wrinkles in our vicinity."

They reached the bridge, and looked at the view-screens showing just how chaotic things were. Whitcomb ordered Cortana forward, but there was a _thump _and the ship stopped. A camera view of an external power conduit revealed a three-meter-wide hole. Sabotage. A repair op was scheduled, and the Spartans headed out in the captured Spirit, Polaski piloting.

As Fred & Grace got to work, the rest of the team stood guard. A few minutes in, a plasma bolt soared overhead, and the EMP fried the cloaking devices of a half-dozen Spec-Ops Elites trying to sneak up on the Spartans. The team opened fire on the aliens, and killed two. Suddenly, a plasma bolt passed directly overhead, vaporizing most of the Spirit. Polaski's death was nigh-instantaneous. For the second time since the Linker Core Seal was placed, Cross Mirage overrode his master's command in order to ensure her safety. A large, vibrant orange shield sprang into place, glowing brightly with power. However, the sheer force that it absorbed meant that Teana was knocked unconscious from mental strain. There was a horrific flash as the plasma passed; the Elites were instantly vaporized… as were Anton and Li. John, spotting the four unconscious Spartans around him, radioed that the power conduit was repaired, and then passed out.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Medical bay of salvaged UNSC **_**Broadsword**_**-class Frigate **_**Gettysburg**_**, attached to captured Covenant **_**Reverence**_**-class Heavy Cruiser **_**Ascendant Justice**_

**Slipspace, en route to Eridanus Secundus System**

**September 12****th****, 2552**

Teana groaned as she came to. She was lying on a bed, clad in her basic fatigues. She turned to the left, finding Cross Mirage sitting on a nearby table. Her head hurt. She reached out and grabbed the card, pulling it close. "What happened?"

"Good to see you awake, master" he replied. "The power conduit was successfully repaired. Unfortunately, a plasma torpedo passed overhead at extreme-close range. Warrant Officer Polaski was killed, as were Anton-044 and Li-008. I was forced to temporarily undo your Linker Core Seal so as to cast the strongest shield spell I could muster, in order to protect you from the same fate. The shield successfully protected you, but the strain rendered you unconscious. Droids were sent out and retrieve you and the other Spartans, and then Vice-Admiral Whitcomb destroyed an enemy cruiser at point-blank range, used a piece of another cruiser as a massive projectile against an enemy assault carrier, and then exited the slipspace bubble, which collapsed as soon as we exited it."

"Anything else?"

"The Covenant have discovered Earth's location via Forerunner astro-navigation data."

"…_What?_" (AN: Again, the disappearing exclamation mark, right?)

"Apparently, the Covenant have discovered a Forerunner star-chart that points to an artifact of great importance being on Earth. They do not know that they have found humanity's homeworld, but they are bringing 500 ships due to the importance of the artifact; such numbers would crush the UNSC even if the Covenant were caught off-guard by their presence. We are attempting to get to Earth as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, our hybrid vessel has suffered extensive damage. We are currently en route to the Eridanus Secundus system, so as to 'convince' the insurrectionists hiding there to repair the ship."

Eridanus Secundus. Teana remembered reading the classified report on the Spartans' first mission. They probably shouldn't expect a warm welcome. "What's the status of the other Spartans?"

"John-117, Fred-104, Grace-093, and Will-043 are recovering quickly from their injuries and exhaustion; all four have regained consciousness and are mobile, though John's injuries have led to Dr. Halsey protesting his current decision not to lie down and rest. Grace is currently listening in while Yayap explains various things to Vice-Admiral Whitcomb. Kelly-087 is still unconscious from her injuries received on Reach, and is being kept under by Dr. Halsey at the moment. Linda-058 is currently in the surgical bay, and Dr. Halsey is preparing to work on her. Her injuries are great, but with the medical technology on the _Gettysburg_ and Dr. Halsey's expertise, her prognosis is good."

10 minutes later, Teana had reached the lab, finding Halsey and the Master Chief discussing an anomaly: Avery Johnson's survival of the Flood. She listened as Halsey explained Boren's Syndrome, telling of Johnson's exposure to 1200 rads of plasma grenade radiation.

"So _that's_ the cover that the ONI Spooks came up with" a voice said from the doorway.

Everyone turned, to see Johnson leaning against the doorframe. "A cover story?" Cortana piped in as she appeared. "For what?"

Johnson smirked and walked into the room. "The Spartan-2s," he said, "got a lot of surgical enhancements that made 'em full-on superhumans. The people from the original Orion Project, the Spartan-Is, didn't get that. What they _did _get was a bunch of drug-induced genetic and biochemical enhancements, which put 'em at a higher level than most folks, and some augmentations to the brain."

After several seconds of processing this data, Halsey's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. "Johnson…? You're a…"

"A subject from the UNSC's Orion Project. Here's the _real _data." He pulled a tiny data-chip from the access port of his neural implant in the back of his skull, slotting it into the nearby terminal. Data streamed across the screen: 100% irrefutable proof that Avery Johnson was a Spartan-I, complete with detailed records on his enhancements and their effects on his body.

"I thought there weren't any ORIONs still on active duty" Halsey muttered.

"Yeah, most of 'em are dead or retired. But not me; I'm 82 years old and still at the top of my game, and I plan to see this war through to the end. 'Course, cryo-sleep means that my body's age doesn't quite match up to how long I've actually been around, and those enhancements have ensured that I've aged gracefully, if I do say so myself".

"So your S-1 neural enhancements make your nervous system too weird for the Flood to force a match" Teana said, "but how did you survive when a dozen armed Combat Forms were suddenly all around you?"

In response, Cortana pulled up an audio-video recording stored in the data-chip. It showed, through Johnson's eyes, as he displayed extraordinary aptitude, fighting his way past hordes of Flood, running faster and jumping farther than any unaltered human could, using a shotgun and a pistol to decimate any Flood that got in his way. He wasn't quite at the Master Chief's level, but the enhancements he had gave the old marine the physical fitness of a man in his prime, with almost-superhuman endurance.

After things were settled down, Johnson graciously made his exit, heading to the mess-hall to see if any food had survived back when the _Gettysburg _was gutted by a Covenant ship-grade particle beam cannon. Teana and John soon left as well, leaving Halsey & Cortana to discuss the bizarre space-time-warping crystal.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Rebel Asteroid Base**

**Eridanus Secundus System**

**September 12****th****, 2552**

Teana walked carefully down the hallway, sticking close to Dr. Halsey in case these insurrectionists tried anything. Her red MJOLNIR armor shone, kept pristine due to it essentially taking the place of her Barrier Jacket, so that whenever deactivated it was completely repaired by the magic subspace pocket it was stored in, and a mental command was all that was needed to have it flash into corporeal existence around her. John, Fred, Lt. Haverson, and VADM Whitcomb made up the rest of the group, following 'Governor' Jiles to his office, and tailed by a quartet of militia carrying old MA3 assault rifles. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a dull knife. Teana wished Jorge was here; he had a gift for defusing volatile situations.

They reached a room that held a large table, and at the other end a reinforced window looked out at the tumbling asteroids in the distance. A tablecloth was laid out, and several trays of assorted foods were brought in. Haverson, Whitcomb, and Halsey took seats. Jiles looked at John & Fred.

"We're too heavy" Fred answered the man's unspoken question. "A Spartan in full armor weighs about half a ton. There's no way those chairs would support out weight."

"I'm smaller than these two" Teana cut in, turning to Jiles. "Can the chair hold 500 pounds of armored Spartan?"

"It's reinforced to hold up to 700 pounds. Please, have a seat."

The smaller Spartan eased into a seat. After a few seconds of consideration, she muttered "the hell with it" and removed her helmet, allowing her long red-orange hair to fall free. Their hosts stared a little, caught off-guard by seeing a Spartan so young. "She looks only about as old as my daughter" one guard murmured. Jiles looked into the solid blue eyes of the girl, and for several seconds the Spartan and the Governor read each other, before turning away. Experienced with reading people, he saw plenty enough to give him a solid guess as to how much shit this kid had been through.

Whitcomb then gave an explanation of preceding events. Jiles didn't take it well at first, but then accused Whitcomb of not bringing any proof that Reach had fallen, that the hybrid ship held an extraordinary alien artifact, or that the Covenant may have followed them here.

Proof came in the form of a Covenant battlecruiser emerging from slipspace in high orbit over the system's third planet. "_There's _your proof, Governor" Whitcomb growled.

**-**_**SIX HOURS LATER**_**-**

**September 13****th**** 0200 Hours**

The Spartans sat in the _Gettysburg_'s machine shop. Teana sat near Linda, glad that one of her teachers was alive again, as the still-recovering Spartan sat minus her helmet and shoulder pieces, carefully tending to an SRS99C rifle. Teana had spent the last hour explaining everything that had happened to the red-haired Spartan – Reach's fall, Halo, the Flood, Yayap's defection & revelations along with the information given by Chen S-Yar, the space-time-warping crystal, and Johnson's Spartan-1 status. And the deaths of every Spartan except those currently in the room and the three-member MIA-for-two-years Gray Team.

Halsey radioed, requesting Kelly's presence in the lab. Johnson & Locklear arrived, and the group got to brainstorming. It was Johnson who came up with the idea of an infiltration into the Covenant's mobile naval base _Unyielding Hierophant_. John immediately got to work, issuing orders to everyone in the room. Grace & Teana started helping Linda get her armor back together, Locklear went off to grab every weapon he could find and bring it to the _Ascendant Justice_'s primary hangar, and Fred, Will, & Johnson went off to prepare the last remaining Spirit dropship for one last mission.

Two and a half hours later, Teana stood with Whitcomb, Haverson, and the Chief on the bridge of the ship as Halsey absconded with Kelly and an old stealth vessel stolen from Governor Jiles. Queries were met with UNSC Code 392 – an official 'non-response' code used by NavSpecWar operatives to ignore hails due to a higher-priority mission. Less than a minute later, two Covenant ships entered the system. Jiles' personnel evacuated the _Gettysburg _and retreated into the asteroid base, and Cortana started activating the engines and reactors. Then one of the enemy ships jumped out. As the hybrid vessel got underway, 30 Covenant warships entered the system. Whitcomb reluctantly ordered a retreat. As the slipspace drives engaged, a pulse of radiation from below-deck signaled the destruction of the Forerunner crystal and the death of ODST Corporal Timothy Locklear. Space-time distorted & opened, and the _Gettysburg/Ascendant Justice _entered the non-realm of slipspace, leaving Governor Jiles and his people to their fates.

Whitcomb could only say one thing. "Hundreds for billions… Duty be damned, I'm still going to burn in Hell for this. May God forgive me."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Tau Ceti System**

**Captured and heavily-modified "Spirit" dropship **_**Dual Burst**_

**September 13****th****, 2552**

Teana regained consciousness, looking around the interior of the heavily reinforced dropship. The other Spartans were already up and checking out each other's armor. She drifted over and joined them, and Grace confirmed that her armor was okay. John & Will drifted over and peeked out the port-side hatch, while Teana and Fred looked starboard. The sheer magnitude of the fleet was mind-boggling. The Cortana Clone and Cross Mirage provided a solid number: 502 Covenant warships. A ship brimming with particle cannons drifted past, followed by a ship bigger than a heavy cruiser.

COVENANT _ZEALOT_-CLASS BATTLESHIP – 2,000 METERS

COVENANT _JUDGMENT_-CLASS SUPER-CRUISER – 3,500 METERS

A _clang _sounded as the Covenant's space-borne equivalent to a tugboat latched onto the crippled dropship and started carrying it. Everyone readied weapons, Teana ensuring to summon a silencer onto the end of Mirage Rifle. A fiber-optic cable snaked out by the Chief gave everyone a view of outside. The tug carried them over, under, and around ships of all shapes & sizes, and eventually something new came into view. At first it looked like two cruisers had collided head-on, but then the presence of carriers near it gave perspective. It was _massive_. 30 kilometers end to end, with a docking ring 10 kilometers across. This was the Covenant mobile naval base: the _Unyielding Hierophant_.

A few minutes later, they were in, and artificial gravity enabled them to stand. They passed a trio of Engineers and exited the ship, pulling themselves up onto a latticework deck. There were thousands of Engineers all over the place, but nothing else besides a pair of menial-labor Grunts. They darted through cover, reaching a computer terminal. Cortana-2 pinpointed the location of the nearest reactor, leaving behind another clone to handle security systems, and the Spartans continued on, passing through a briefly-open access panel. For 11 hours and several kilometers, they crawled through ductwork, following Cortana-2's directions. They eventually reached a massive open area, filled with plants and statues, and a beam of white shot across the ceiling, providing daytime illumination. Waterfalls and walkways decorated the area, and in the distance temples and spires stood Banshees flew around in formation, along with several flocks of birds.

The Spartans prepped, Linda ascending to the rooftops, and then started their 300-meter sprint across the open once the quiet Spartan signaled, heading for the structure with a direct route to the reactor. Two Hunters went down courtesy of Linda, and the team reached the structure, passing through dark corridors. Suddenly, a Brute came out from ahead, ignoring bullet wounds and pouncing on John. At the rear, Teana shoved Grace out of the way of a trio of Brute Shot grenades, ducking to avoid them and blasting the offending Brute in the face with a 40mm rifle grenade, blowing its head off. Another Brute was gunned down by Fred & Will focusing fire on its face, and John used a frag grenade to kill the first Brute, using the beast's body as a meat shield to protect him from the deadly high-speed fragments.

The five Spartans moved on, through corridors and access hatches, until finally they reached the reactor chamber, spotting the massive 512-reactor power plant. The group moved forward, placing Cortana-2 into the terminal. The plasma in the reactors began to change color, going from blue to white and spreading like poison through the compound reactor. The team immediately turned and began hurrying for the exit. They soon reached the main area, and the Brute-hiding temple, now crawling with Covenant, exploded as Grace's booby-trap of two anti-tank mines detonated. John deliberately clicked his comm., and four Banshees came flying toward them… and dropped like rocks as Linda killed their pilots from behind. Each of the bigger Spartans got in a Banshee, with Teana hanging onto the top of Will's, using her suit's magnetic function to ensure a solid grip. Fred flew over to a nearby window and started setting up a mine to blow it, while John turned back to look for Linda. The radio revealed that Cortana-2 had spun off hundreds of copies, and was starting to break down.

Finally, John found Linda; she had been making those extraordinary sniper shots from over a kilometer off, while hanging from a rope and shooting one-handed. Incredible. He caught her, and the craft then turned around and headed for the window at top speed. The anti-tank mine detonated and damaged the window, and fuel-rod shots from the four Banshees shattered it. They headed for a drifting Covenant dropship, climbing aboard the Spirit and rocketing away from the doomed space station, as hundreds of Covenant ships moved about, confused by their C&C's sudden silence. A transmission from Vice-Admiral Whitcomb directed them to a nearby moon. They headed into a nearby moon's shadow… and found the _Gettysburg _waiting for them. Just the _Gettysburg_.

10 minutes later, they reached the frigate's bridge, to find Johnson, Yayap, Foehammer, and Cortana. Whitcomb and Haverson were nowhere to be seen. A spy drone peeked over the moon, showing the horribly damaged _Ascendant Justice _heading straight for the _Unyielding Hierophant_. Upon learning that the _Justice_'s FTL drive was now aboard the _Gettysburg_, John realized what was happening. Contact was established with the heavy cruiser, and Whitcomb outlined his plan: using a semi-solid hologram of the Forerunner crystal to lure the Covenant to the station just in time for it to blow. A Covenant light carrier was destroyed by the _Justice_'s cannons. Several seconds later, the ship crashed into the station. Whitcomb pulled himself to his feet.

"Come on, mighty Covenant warriors" he broadcasted system-wide. "We're here in the middle of your fleet with your 'holy of holies'. Come and get it!"

Nearly every ship in the system converged on the station. Less than 30 seconds later, everything went white. When the light faded, the _Unyielding Hierophant _no longer existed. It had been atomized, along with all but 10 heavily-damaged Covenant ships… and the two brave naval officers. After looking upon the devastation, sending a silent prayer in honor of the men's heroism, they entered coordinates and began making their way home. Slipspace swallowed up the frigate, and the Tau Ceti System was quiet again.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

The journey home was uneventful. The higher-ups were very surprised to see them all alive… and even more so once they heard the full story.

Avery Johnson was confirmed to be Flood-free, but due to the reasons behind this his encounter with the Flood was classified Tier-1. In mid-October, he received a long-overdue promotion to Sergeant-Major.

Yayap was, surprisingly, not shot on sight or 'detained' for anything other than standard questioning. Questions about his good will were stopped when he saved Fleet-Admiral Hood from a rebel assassination attempt, losing his own left leg in the process. Even so, he wrestled the offender to the ground long enough for the MPs to nab the traitor. Within four days Yayap had a left leg again. He took to UNSC special-ops training with extraordinary ease, and received a NavSpecWar rank of Petty Officer Second Class.

For his actions on Halo and at Tau Ceti, John-117 received a Medal of Honor; Teana received the Distinguished Service Cross, the other Spartans & Johnson received Silver Stars, and Carol 'Foehammer' Rawley was bestowed the Distinguished Flying Cross.

The UNSC got to work, stepping up their beefing-up of Earth's defenses.

And hundreds of light-years away, Thel 'Vadamee was "escorted" to _High Charity_.

**UNSC Navy: **198 ships (325 before Reach)

**Covenant Navy: **740 ships (1,400 before Reach and Tau Ceti)

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	23. Cairo Station

Here's Chapter 23. _Halo 2_. Things start noticeably diverging once the Covenant Civil War comes into play.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Earth, Sol System**

**Cairo Station (Heavy MAC platform in geosynchronous orbit over Cairo, Egypt)**

**October 20****th****, 2552**

Teana moved about, trying out the feel of her new Mark-VI MJOLNIR armor. Movement came even easier to her, and she felt stronger & quicker. Her new shields could take a teensy bit more punishment; more importantly, though, they recharged much faster. Everything felt better overall; the exterior of the suit had even been modified, giving less potential grapple points for close combat. Nearby, the Master Chief finished trying out his own new armor suit.

"You done with my boy here, Master Guns?" Johnson said as he emerged from the elevator. "I don't see any training wheels…"

"Their armor's workin' fine, Johnson," the armory keeper replied, "so shut your chili-hole". He turned to the Spartans. "You two are free to go. Just remember to take things slow for a bit."

"Don't worry" Johnson said. "I'll hold their hands."

Teana walked onto the elevator, John following.

"So, Johnson, when are you gonna tell me how you made it home in one piece?"

"Sorry, Guns. It's classified."

"Heh! My ass! Well, you can forget about those adjustments to your A2 scope, and-"

The elevator door shut, and the lift began to rise.

"Well, he's in a particularly fine mood" Johnson said. "Maybe Lord Hood didn't give him an invitation."

They got off and walked over into a tram car. Johnson smiled as he looked at the globe that filled the screen. "Earth. Haven't seen her in years…" The tram car began to slowly move down its track. "When I shipped out for basic, the orbital defense grid was just theory and politics. Now look. The _Cairo _is just one of 300 geosync platforms. That Super-MAC can punch a hole clean through a fully-shielded Covenant supercarrier. With coordinated fire from the _Athens _and the _Malta_, nothin's getting' through this battle-cluster in one piece."

Several UNSC warships drifted overhead; cruisers, frigates, and destroyers flitted about, the faint outlines of stealth prowlers became briefly visible here & there, and a supercarrier (the UNSC _Vladivostok_) and two carriers (_Soul of Seoul _and _Cossack_) were parked in geosynchronous orbit over Paris, Istanbul, and Rome, respectively.

UNSC _PROWLER_-CLASS CORVETTE – 162 METERS

UNSC _BURKE_-CLASS DESTROYER – 485 METERS

UNSC _MARATHON_-CLASS CRUISER – 1,190 METERS

UNSC _COLE_-CLASS CARRIER – 3,000 METERS

UNSC _AUSTERLITZ_-CLASS SUPERCARRIER – 3,275 METERS

"Ships have been arrivin' all morning" Johnson said. "Nobody's sayin' much, but I think somethin' _big's _about to happen…"

"Considering the disaster at Reach," Teana replied, "I'm glad to see that the UNSC has beefed up defense here as much as possible. We must have the entire UNSC Navy stationed around Earth and Mars."

"Almost" John said. "Out of the 200 ships we currently have, 190 of them are here in the Sol System right now."

The tram slid to a stop, and several applauding personnel lined the walkway to the bridge, while a few camera droids hovered around. The trio stepped out and began walking toward the door.

"You told me there wouldn't be any cameras" John said.

"And you two told me you were gonna wear somethin' nice" Johnson replied. "Folks need heroes, to give 'em hope. So smile, would ya? While we still got somethin' to smile about."

They walked through the door, finding more naval personnel applauding. Fleet-Admiral Hood stood in the center of the podium. Next to him stood Colonel Urban Holland, who had been among the last few to escape Reach. Also there were Yayap, clad in a UNSC custom-made Special-Ops armor, and a young woman wearing a naval officer's uniform, bearing the mark of a naval Commander. In the back, Colonel James Ackerson stood watching, glaring at the Spartans. He was the only one not applauding. The trio reached the Admiral and saluted, and the sharp old man returned it.

"We're lucky to have you three back" he said. An Ensign walked up and whispered to Hood, who then turned to the holo-projector at his side. "Go ahead, Cortana."

The AI popped up, her formerly-violet holographic avatar now a cool blue. "Another whisper, sir," she said, "near Io. We have probes en route."

"I apologize," Hood said, "but we're going to have to make this quick."

Cortana then turned to the trio. "You look nice."

"Thanks" "Thank you" "Thanks, Cortana" The three looked around at each other, silently debating exactly who she had just complimented. Cortana stifled a chuckle.

Over the next 10 minutes, medals were given out, including a Colonial Cross granted posthumously to Jacob Keyes, handed over to the young Commander who turned out to be Keyes' daughter Miranda.

Suddenly, alarms began to sound, and people snapped to attention and began to rush around.

"Slipspace ruptures," Cortana reported, "directly off our battle cluster: 16 Covenant warships, holding position just outside the killzone."

The screen showed the 16 enemy vessels, along with a group of 40 UNSC ships moving. "This is Admiral Harper. We are engaging the enemy."

"Negative, Admiral" Hood said. "Form a defensive perimeter around the cluster." He turned to Miranda Keyes. "Commander, get to your ship and link up with the fleet." The young woman nodded and rushed off. "Cortana, you have the MAC. As soon as they get in range, open fire."

"Gladly, sir."

He stared at the enemy force. "Something's not right…" he muttered. "The fleet that took Reach was 20 times this size…"

"That's no attack fleet" Yayap cut in. "That's an exploration fleet, from the looks of it. They cruise about the galaxy, checking out star systems at random for harvestable resources and potential base locations."

"You mean to tell me" Ackerson walked up, sounding quite pissed off as the implications hit, "that after all this secrecy, all the protocol, all the time and effort working our asses off to keep the Covenant from learning from us where our home is, the Covenant has just found Earth by _complete… fucking… ACCIDENT?_" (AN: the disappearing exclamation mark again, right?)

"…Yep" Teana simply replied. In response, Ackerson looked like he almost had an aneurysm.

"Sir!" a Lieutenant Junior Grade manning a console cut in. "Additional contacts! Boarding craft, and lots of 'em!"

"They're going to try and take our MACs offline" Hood said. "Give their capital ships a straight shot at Earth. Master Chief, Warrant Officer, defend this station."

"Yes sir" the Spartans replied in unison. Teana activated Cross Mirage in dual pistol mode, while John turned to Johnson. "I need a weapon."

"Right this way."

Yayap stayed to guard Fleet-Admiral Hood, readying a plasma rifle and an M319 Grenade Launcher. The three others made their way down the nearby stairway, the Chief grabbing a BR55 and two M7 SMGs while Johnson grabbed a BR55 and checked to ensure that his SRS99 was ready. They followed a group of marines to a room overlooking a large window, and set up a defensive position using various objects as cover.

"How's it goin', _Malta_?" Johnson radioed.

"Stand by…" came the reply. There was a _clank _over the radio. "They're latched! Check your targets and watch the crossfire. They're in standard formation: little bastards up front, big ones in back. Good luck, _Cairo_."

The station shook as a Covenant boarding craft attached. On the other side of the metal door, weapons fire was heard. A bright light formed in the center of the door, slowly spreading, as if the Covenant were blow-torching their way through.

"Field of fire on that bulkhead!" Johnson ordered. "As soon as that door opens, let 'em have it!"

**Home Field Advantage**

The door busted inward, and before the smoke could even clear Teana threw a frag grenade. Three Grunts were killed, and a blue-armored Elite's shields were drained, leaving it susceptible to a BR55 headshot from the Chief. Another Elite-led Grunt pack charged in, and were gunned down by the several various weapons pointed at the door, including an M247 heavy machinegun turret. Two more blue-armored Elites leapt down from the top level, and were taken down. The Chief grabbed a plasma pistol from one and clipped it to his hip. The team rushed through, killing a few more Grunts on the left, and then catching a team of two Elite Minors and four Grunts by surprise, killing them effortlessly. They moved up some stairs, to an area overlooking an atrium. Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode, and started picking off Grunts, while the Master Chief manned a machinegun turret and took down the Elites. The two Spartans went right and down a stairway, focusing fire to kill a red-armored Elite and then mopping up the three Grunts.

They entered the atrium, clearing out Grunts, and the doors at the other end opened. From the right door came a blue-armored Elite and three Grunts, and Teana hit them with a 40mm rifle grenade, killing the Grunts and stunning the Elite, who was then shot down by the Chief. They went through the left door, spotting a red-armored Skirmisher and two Grunts. Another rifle grenade killed them all. They went up the stairs to the upper level, passing through a doorway, and entered one of the station's hangars. A Covenant boarding craft had stuck itself into/through the windows, and several Grunts and Elites were down below. On the floor near the Spartans' position were several frag and plasma grenades, which were promptly put to use in clearing the floor below. Two more waves came out from the boarding craft, and were dealt with by grenades and Mirage Shotgun. With the area clear, the marines and Spartans looked out the window. In the distance, boarding craft could be seen flying away from _Malta Station_.

"Hey, check it out" a marine said. "The _Malta_'s already driven off its boarders."

"_Malta_, what is your status, over?" Cortana radioed.

"I don't believe it!" the station's crewman replied happily. "They're retreating! We won!"

Just as he said this, a blue-white explosion ripped through the distant station. A few smaller explosions chained along its width, and then the fusion reactor exploded, the _Malta _disappearing in a vibrant fireball. Hunks of burning, melting metal were left drifting rapidly away from the explosion's epicenter.

"…Shit" John said.

Just then, a door on the far side of the hangar was blown open, and two Elites & six Grunts came through. Focused AR & BR fire brought them down, and the team moved through the door and into the next hangar. Here, another boarding craft had latched in, its hostile cargo exchanging fire with a squad of eight ODSTs. Two portable plasma turrets, manned by green-armored Grunts, fired at the newcomers; the Spartans' shields absorbed the shots long enough for them to return fire, blowing the aliens' brains out. The team of two Spartans, eight shock troopers, and four marines cleared the hangar, though a marine went down, a needler round lodged in his neck, and an ODST got a broken arm courtesy of an Elite's tackle. He drew his pistol with the other arm, jammed the barrel in the alien's mouth, and fired thrice, killing it. As things became quiet, several enemy boarding craft flew away from a nearby station.

"Uh-oh, I think they're leaving the _Athens_…"

Sure enough, _Athens Station _chained with explosions and then erupted in a flashing fireball, pieces of it scattering in all directions.

"Cortana!" Hood radioed. "Assessment!"

"That explosion came from inside the _Athens, _same as the _Malta_" Cortana replied. "The Covenant must've brought bombs with them."

"Then they sure as hell brought one here. Spartans, find it."

**Priority Shift**

The duo went down a ramp into a below-floor access-way that led to the Armory. The Chief led, using his SMG to mow down the Grunts. Teana switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode and took down the red-armored Elite. As they reached the door to the Armory, a black-armored Spec-Ops Elite almost walked into them. Teana reacted quicker, blasting the alien, and they moved into the armory's lower level. Above, the Master Gunnery Sergeant traded fire with two Elites.

"Get the hell outta my armory, split-li-AAGH!"

The man went down just as the hatch opened to allow the Spartans to access the upper level. Two red-armored Elites stood, and one of them had its shields down and struggling to recharge. A single BR55 bullet killed it, and two shotgun blasts downed the other. They moved into the nearby atrium, clearing it of hostiles, and continued to the upper floor. A grenade took out the Grunts coming through the next doorway, and stunned the Elite, leaving it open to six BR rounds to kill it. They passed through a few more doors, and reached a hallway to find Commander Keyes, Johnson, and a few marines trying to fight their way through a squad of Covenant.

"I was almost on board when they showed up" Keyes said.

"Don't worry, ma'am" Johnson replied. "We're on it."

Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode and fired two 40mm rifle grenades down the hall, killing most of the Grunts and an Elite. Johnson pulled up his sniper rifle and killed a red-armored Elite at the other end of the hallway. The Chief picked off the stragglers.

"Thanks, guys" Keyes said. "I owe you one."

The Spartan pair moved on, entering an airlock.

**Authorized Personnel Only**

The doors behind them sealed shut, and the door ahead opened to space. Outside, the UNSC frigate _In Amber Clad _sat docked to the station, awaiting its crew. An Elite Ranger popped up, and was gunned down before it could fire at them. They stepped out, drifting to the floor several feet below, and two more Rangers attacked and were promptly dealt with by a combination of the Chief's plasma pistol and Teana's rifle/device. High up ahead, flashes of light showed the space battle; Teana activated her visor's zoom function and had Cross Mirage project data onto her HUD. Already, one Covenant cruiser had been destroyed, though four UNSC frigates had been as well, and a _Halcyon _cruiser was spewing smoke from a gash in its port side.

"Sir, boarders have breached the fire control center" Cortana radioed. "They have a bomb."

"Can you defuse it?" Hood asked.

"Yes, but I'll need one of the Spartans' help to make contact with the detonator."

"Chief, Noble-7, get to the bomb double-time. Cortana, prioritize targets and fire at will."

They crossed the open space and passed through an airlock, entering a large chamber that gave a solid view of the MAC.

"First echelon, you're with me," Admiral Harper's voice said over FLEETCOM, "blanket those cruisers. Take 'em out one by one. Second echelon, keep those assault carriers busy."

"Registering all hostile vessels inside the kill-zone" Cortana reported. "13 cruisers, 2 assault carriers. I'm goin' loud!"

The Heavy MAC came online and, after a few seconds, it fired. A Covenant cruiser, its hull already damaged, had a massive hole blown from starboard to port through its body just ahead of the engines. Only the nose of the ship survived the following explosion, drifting dead through space. The Spartans' attention was grabbed by a swarm of Drones that flew up from the elevator shaft, peppering them with plasma pistol shots. John readied his SMG while Teana switched Mirage Rifle to full-auto, and the two quickly cleared the air, though one of the three marines that came to assist went down as multiple plasma bolts burned through his upper torso. The elevator platform slowly arrived, carrying two Elites and four Grunts. Teana gunned down the blue-armored Elite, the Chief used an EMP/Rifle combo to kill the red-armored one, and the marines killed the Grunts. The Spartans got aboard and hit the descend button. The MAC fired again, and a cruiser was cored stem to stern. Slowly, the lift reached the airlock.

"The carriers are breaking through, sir!" Adm. Harper radioed. "They're heading straight for the _Cairo_!"

"Cortana, concentrate your fire on the first carrier" Hood replied. "Admiral, do what you can against the second."

Just as the airlock cycled open and the two Spartans exited, the first Covenant assault carrier shot past the station, its massive size making it difficult to perceive just how fast the ship was moving. It shot right past the _Cairo_, the station shaking slightly from the proximity, and continued down toward eastern Africa.

"The first carrier completely ignored us, sir" Cortana radioed the Fleet-Admiral. "Blew through the _Malta_'s debris field and headed straight for Earth."

Three Elite Rangers barred the Spartans' path. The one manning a plasma turret was killed first, three 3-round bursts punching through its shields and its neck. The other two flew forward to engage the Spartans, and received a plasma grenade stick to one and several rounds from Mirage Rifle to the other. The duo moved on to the airlock elevator, and hit the button. It began to descend towards Fire Control.

"Just so you know," Cortana contacted them, "there are quite a few Elites guarding the bomb. You may need to get creative."

**Return to Sender**

A 40mm rifle grenade killed most of the Grunts, and three thrown frag grenades further softened up the opposition, killing two blue-armored Elites and wounding a red-armored one. Teana charged in, switching Mirage to double Longsword Mode, and struck the wounded Elite down. The Chief used a dropped plasma repeater to take down another blue-armored Elite, while Teana used her twin blades to slice another red-armored Elite into three pieces. As they fought, the second Covenant assault carrier headed for Earth, passing the window. With the room clear, they turned their attention to the large spike-covered device with a blinking panel on the top, and to the holo-projector next to it, from which Cortana appeared.

"Me, inside your head, _now_."

The Chief placed his hand on the terminal, and felt as Cortana entered his armor. He walked over to the bomb's panel and placed his hand on it. The display flashed blue and stopped blinking.

"How much time was left?" he asked.

"You don't wanna know" Cortana replied.

Teana asked Cross Mirage on a private channel, and her eyes widened. They had been only seven seconds from annihilation.

"_Cairo_, this is _In Amber Clad_" Commander Keyes said over FLEETCOM. "The carrier's shield is down. I'm in position, and ready for immediate assault."

"Negative, Commander" Hood replied. "Not against a ship that size. Not on your own."

"Sir" the Master Chief called in. "Permission to leave the station?"

"For what purpose?"

"To give the Covenant back their bomb."

"…Permission granted."

The two Spartans tugged the bomb into the elevator and hit the down button.

"So…" Teana turned to the bigger Spartan. "What are you thinking?"

"_I _know what he's thinking," Cortana replied, "and it's crazy."

"So…" Chief said to the AI, "stay here."

"Unfortunately for us both, I _like _crazy."

The elevator stopped at a small hangar, and they dragged the bomb out into the middle of it. The Master Chief walked over to an emergency blast door opening switch, and reached out to grab it. _Now _Tia knew what was happening, and she steeled herself for the upcoming flight.

"Just one question:" Cortana said as John grabbed the handle. "What if you miss?"

"…I won't"

He pulled the lever, and the doors slid open. Air began rushing out of the hold, and after a few seconds the bomb was pulled out as well. Teana had been holding onto it when it started moving, and John grabbed hold when it passed him, and the two Spartans and their bomb shot out into space. Earth's gravity pulled them down, toward the Covenant _Councilor_-class Assault Carrier _Midnight Storm_. As they approached the damaged, shieldless vessel, it fired its topside particle beam cannon, dealing a fatal blow to the UNSC _Marathon_-class Cruiser _Gray Wing_. A pair of Longswords, informed and directed by Lord Hood, flew past them and dropped charges on the assault carrier's 'roof', blowing a hole directly to its power core. The Spartans rode the bomb in, and the Chief then restarted the countdown. They pushed off of the bomb, flying/falling through another hole in the bottom of the ship, leaving it to its fate. Seven seconds later, the _Midnight Storm _erupted, as the antimatter bomb obliterated its reactors, secondary explosions ripping through its plasma stores. The ship was blown in half, two twisted hulks floating dead in space. The Spartans fell through space, heading for the _In Amber Clad_.

In the frigate's bridge, Commander Miranda Keyes read the battle report, Sergeant-Major Johnson standing at her side. 13 of the 14 enemy cruisers and one of their two assault carriers were now destroyed; the light cruiser _Pious Inquisitor _had retreated to Uranus' orbit, while the assault carrier _Everlasting Twilight _was settling in extreme-low orbit over Mombasa, Kenya. Suddenly, there were two loud _thuds_, one a half-second after the other, directly over their heads.

"For a pair of bricks," Johnson remarked, "they flew pretty good."

"Chief, Lanstar, gear up" Keyes contacted them. "We're taking this fight to the surface."

The two Spartans quickly made their way through an airlock hatch, and the _In Amber Clad _made its way toward the coast of Kenya.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	24. Outskirts and Metropolis

Here's Chapter 23. Since they flow together and are pretty much one big level with a cutscene in the middle, this chapter covers both _Outskirts _and _Metropolis_. The same thing will be done with the next chapter (I'm not covering the Arbiter's levels except for the last one).

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Earth**

**Mombasa, Kenya**

**October 20****th****, 2552**

The UNSC frigate _In Amber Clad _hovered 400 meters over the ocean, as three Pelicans flew from it toward the city. The Covenant assault carrier _Everlasting Twilight _hovered over the metropolis, its gravity lift active and anchoring it to the surface. Explosions went off in the sky as Banshees, Phantoms, & Seraphs dueled Falcons, Hornets, Skyhawks, Wombats, and Longswords.

"The message just repeats" Cortana said. "Regret. Regret. Regret."

"Catchy" Miranda Keyes snarked "Any idea what it means?"

"Dear Humanity:" Johnson cut in, "we regret being alien bastards. We regret comin' to Earth. And we most definitely regret that the corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!"

"Oo-rah!"

"Regret is a name, Sergeant-Major," Cortana replied, "the name of one of the Covenant's three High Prophets, the triumvirate that holds command over the entire Covenant. He's on that carrier, and he's calling for help."

"Regret is the young, impulsive one, right?" Teana asked. "The one that reports say doesn't think things through? Not one of the two wiser and more dangerous ones?"

"That's correct" Cortana replied. "But he's still a High Prophet, and thus still a Priority-One target."

The Pelicans flew over a Warthog convoy, passing it and flying into the old section of the mega-city.

"Immediate" a reconnaissance team radioed. "Grid Kilo-23 is hot. Recommend mission abort."

"Roger, recon" the pilot of Pelican Echo-33 responded. He turned to the older NCO behind him. "It's your call, sir".

"…We're goin' in" Johnson said after a few seconds of consideration. He turned to the crew compartment. "Get tactical, marines!"

"Master Chief, Noble-7," Hood radioed the Spartans as everyone readied their weapons, "get aboard the ship, and secure the Prophet of Regret. This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land; that Prophet is going to tell us why."

"30 seconds out" the pilot of the lead dropship, Echo-11, radioed. "Stand by to… oh shit."

Ahead, a massive quadrupedal mecha stomped into view: an old-model Scarab. Besides the considerable aesthetic differences, they weren't as maneuverable as the newer, more combat-oriented models, and their weapons took longer to charge, but they had thicker armor, a better-protected core, and a much stronger main gun. This one took aim and fired, and Echo-11 became a hurtling hunk of molten metal, its passengers & crew melting. Echo-22 took a bolt from the Scarab's AA turret and went careening toward the beach. Echo-33, carrying the Spartans, tried an emergency hard to port, but a bolt clipped the underside of its wing. The craft tumbled and landed upside-down on a roof, sliding across and crashing through a weak point.

…

"Chief? Can you hear me?"

**They'll Regret That, Too**

John-117 regained consciousness, shaking the cobwebs from his mind, and got to his feet. Teana & Johnson were securing the area and getting the survivors to their feet.

"Shake it off, marines!" Johnson called. "Clear the crash site; go, go, go!"

The group – two Spartans and five marines – moved out, heading for a small doorway. The Chief signaled a stop, spotting the two dots on his motion tracker. When they got closer, he rounded the corner, quickly taking out the two Grunts before they could sound an alarm. Unfortunately, the next courtyard held several more Grunts, one of which spotted them and called out before a bullet tore through its skull. The squad moved in, taking out the other Grunts, a frag grenade killing the three Jackals that rounded the corner. They moved into the small structure, killing the lone Elite, and took up defensive positions. Johnson perched on the roof, sniper rifle in hand, while the Spartans and two of the marines set up on the second floor, and the other three marines hunkered in on the bottom floor. A blue-armored Elite on a roof to the left went down from a sniper shot, and grenades killed the Grunts coming out from the alley.

Over the next several minutes, they fended off multiple waves of foes, including a Drone swarm and an attack by a Phantom (Type-C, with three rapid-fire guns). Finally, a Pelican flew in, using its chin-gun to clear the courtyard.

"My girl's a little bit for that courtyard, Sergeant-Major" the pilot radioed. "I see a good LZ on the other side of these buildings. Meet you there, over."

"Copy that" Johnson replied. "Someone get a satchel charge on the gate."

The detonation charge was rendered unnecessary as a Hunter pair literally busted through the thick metal gate. The Chief signaled, and a barrage of frag grenades flew through the air, exploding all around the twin titans. Wounded and disoriented, the beasts left their flesh exposed to Johnson's sniper rifle, and he quickly finished them off.

"Second Squad, this is Cortana. What is your status, over?"

"We're operational, ma'am… barely" the ODST Staff-Sergeant replied. "Our pilots didn't make it."

"Find a hole and stay put. We'll come to you."

The team moved through the gate, soon reaching an open area with a damaged road. John barely avoided a particle-beam sniper shot, ducking behind cover. Teana switched Mirage to Sniper Mode. She leapt out, strafing right. The enemy's shot missed; hers didn't. The dead Jackal's body tumbled onto another Jackal, who was so freaked out by this that it turned and ran. A long-distance grenade toss from the Chief killed the other Jackals. A Pelican flew in, setting down on a relatively intact piece of the highway.

"Sergeant-Major," Keyes radioed, "I need you on that bird."

"Ma'am?"

"My Pelicans are going to start airlifting armor and reinforcements into the city. They'll need an escort who isn't afraid of a little hostile ground fire."

"Understood. I'll keep an eye on 'em. Chief, Noble… good luck."

Johnson boarded the Pelican, which took off and flew further into the city. The team moved through the alleyway, killing three more snipers and a Drone swarm (and losing a marine to the third sniper), and went left, following another alley and carving through more Covenant (including a sword-wielding Elite Ultra who took three particle-beam sniper bolts through the upper torso to kill). They passed around a building, and found Second Squad holed up in another building, pinned down by two Elites (a Major and a Minor) and a Grunt manning a plasma turret. A plasma grenade took care of the red-armored Elite, and a close-range beam-snipe killed the other one; the Grunt panicked and tried to run, only to be shot through the neck by one of Second Squad. The Spartan pair walked over to the squad.

"Spartans!" the team Sergeant greeted them. "Glad you could make it. Crash site's on the other side of this hotel, Chief. Covenant are crawlin' all over it. Follow me."

He led them through the darkened hallway, and a team of Grunts led by a red-armored Elite came out at the other end. Teana sniped the Elite, and the Chief used his BR to kill the Grunts. They exited the hallway, finding a beach. A crashed Pelican lay in the sand ahead. A Spirit flew in and deposited four Elites on the nearby bridge, but they were quickly taken down by Teana and Second Squad's sniper. On the road below, a Warthog drove up.

"Special delivery from Commander Keyes, Chief" the driver said.

**A Day At The Beach**

"The highest concentration of Covenant troops is directly below the assault carrier" Cortana said. "I think they know that we're here, and they're trying to ensure we don't get onboard." She then highlighted a gigantic suspension bridge visible in the distance, marking it as the most direct route to the city center.

The two Spartans ran up to the Warthog, John taking the driver's seat while Teana manned the gun. The previous gunner climbed in the passenger's seat. The Warthog drove down the slope, heading over to the crashed Pelican. They scavenged ammunition, and then moved over the slope and to another area which held an under-construction Covenant AA Gun. They tore their way through the area, taking out three snipers, two Elite-driven Ghosts, and 12 Grunts, and went through a passageway to another section of beach. Here, more Elites & Grunts were easy prey. A Phantom flew into the area and dropped off two Ghosts, and two more Ghosts came over the concrete hump that led to the next area. The Warthog kept in constant motion, its chaingun eventually taking out all four enemy vehicles and all three of the Phantom's turrets. They moved on to the next section of beach, where more Ghosts patrolled, and at the other end a Covenant lookout tower defended the entrance to the tunnel highway.

"Chief, the assault carrier just launched a wave of pods" Keyes radioed. "They're inbound on your position."

Sure enough, several seconds later a quartet of drop pods landed near the tunnel entrance, disgorging four black-armored Special-Ops Elites. The Warthog's chaingun made mincemeat out of two of them, the third got ran over by the Warthog, and the fourth got crushed by falling debris when Teana focused fire on the hovering lookout platform, knocking it out of the air. The Warthog drove up the slope and entered the tunnel.

"This tunnel links up to the bridge" Cortana said. "It's full of rats, if you know what I mean, but it beats swimming."

They drove into the tunnel, turning left and then right again to enter the main highway.

**Speed Zone Ahead**

"I'm analyzing the Covenant tactical chatter" Cortana said. "They're surprised… confused. I don't think they expected us to be here."

"Well, it's not every day a Spartan takes to the field," Teana said, "let alone two."

"Not us three" Cortana replied. "All of us… humanity, on Earth. Seems that Yayap's guess was spot-on; this was likely an exploration fleet… though it confuses me why a High Prophet would take part in an operation of such low importance as checking out new star systems."

They reached a small Covenant encampment and cleared it out. Another Warthog came up from behind to join them, adding its firepower, and the two-vehicle convoy rolled on. They travelled the highway, clearing out three more groups of Covenant and a Drone swarm, until they reached a larger room, with a hole blown in its ceiling. A Warthog dived through the hole from above, and before it could even hit the ground a massive beam of blue-white plasma obliterated it. The Scarab continued on overhead, unaware of the humans just one level below it. They continued on, soon reaching another encampment that included a parked Shadow. Focused fire killed the turret gunner and wrecked the gun, and the way was soon clear. A third Warthog joined them from a nearby on-ramp tunnel, and the trio of vehicles moved on. They soon came upon a convoy of three Covenant Shadows and opened fire, disabling them one by one. A fourth Shadow further ahead was dealt with as well, and the Warthogs reached one final large room. They, of course, blitzed through, clearing the room of anything not human and driving up the ramp to the bridge.

When they reached the top and came outside, the Chief & Teana disembarked and walked over to the marine defensive position. One marine was sitting against a barricade, gasping for breath; the other glared at the Scarab as it moved on across the bridge.

"It blew right through us" she said. ".50 cal, rockets, didn't do a thing."

A Pelican flew in, carrying an M808B Scorpion tank. It hovered low and dropped off its cargo. Sergeant-Major Johnson jumped out of the troop bay and walked over to the marines.

"Where's the rest of your platoon?" he asked.

"Wasted, Sarge" the female marine replied.

"And we will be too, sir" the male marine piped up, "if we don't get the hell outta here!"

"You hit, marine?" Johnson asked him.

"N-no, sir"

"Then listen up! Usually, the Good Lord works in mysterious ways. But not today. This right here is 66 tons of HE-shell-spewin', ceramic-titanium-armored, dee-vine intervention! If God is love, then you can call me Cupid."

"What about that Scarab? This isn't one of those newer models with the weak leg joints, and it has heavier armor and a wicked cannon."

"We've all run the simulations on these big oldies. They're tough, but they ain't invincible. Stay with the Spartans; they'll know what to do."

"Thanks for the tank" Cortana said. "_He _never gets me anything…"

Johnson released the safety on the Pelican's rear machinegun and chambered a round. "Oh, I know what the ladies like…"

**Ladies Like Grinding Treads**

The Master Chief climbed into the tank's driver's seat; Teana manned the machinegun, and the two marines sat on either side of its rear treads. The vehicle growled and rumbled as it came to life, and began to roll across the bridge, the two other Warthogs following. As they made their way up the bridge, blowing Ghosts to kingdom come, a Wraith at the apex of the bridge began shooting plasma mortars at them, which were dodged due to the distance giving advance warning. As soon as they got close enough, the Scorpion's cannon fired four shots into the Wraith's front, destroying it. Past the Wraith, they maneuvered around a hole in the bridge, and a Phantom zoomed overhead, speeding down the length of the bridge. Another one flew by on the right, but stopped to shoot at the human vehicles. The Scorpion's cannon and a marine's rocket launcher blew off its guns, and the Chief continued firing at the dropship as it retreated. He hit something vital, and the Phantom dropped, flaming, into the water. Another Phantom flew by on the left, was deprived of its guns by the human forces, and retreated with flames spewing from its starboard engine. A Banshee tried to attack the Scorpion from 6-o-clock high, but was blown to bits before it could hit the tank.

The convoy rolled on, going down the bridge, blowing up Ghosts, and soon reaching the entrance to another tunnel highway. This time, the tunnel was guarded by three Banshees, a pair of Wraiths, and a quartet of Ghosts ("That's quite a welcome party" Cortana remarked). The Chief used the Scorpion's cannon to 'snipe' the Banshees, and then the Warthogs rolled forward, taking on the Ghosts and distracting the Wraiths. One well-placed cannon shot scrapped the first Wraith's cannon, leaving it without offense, and the other Wraith responded by hitting a Warthog dead-on with its plasma mortar, destroying the vehicle and vaporizing its two occupants. The Scorpion rolled up and started firing shells into the Wraith as quickly as the main gun would fire, while Teana used the machinegun turret to take out two Grunt-driven Ghosts. The Warthog's gunner killed the Elites driving the other two Ghosts, and then finished off the gun-less Wraith, while the other Wraith exploded as the Scorpion's attacks finally did enough damage. The two vehicles entered the tunnel, taking out two Elites and four Grunts a little ways in, and then moving on to find a group of marines trading fire with a pack of Covenant.

The pathway was too narrow for the vehicles to fit, so everybody dismounted. A marine ran up to the Master Chief. "It's tight quarters on the other side, sir" she said as she pulled out a shotgun and a satchel holding extra shells. "Use this". She handed it to him, and he nodded in thanks. Teana debated, but ultimately chose to have Cross Mirage remain in Rifle Mode for the moment. After all, if she needed to, she could switch modes in a heartbeat. The team filed through, Spartans leading, and engaged the Covenant spread out in the area. The Covenant lost a force of two-dozen, mostly Grunts with a few Skirmishers, two Jackal Snipers, and three Elites, while the UNSC lost three marines KIA in the skirmish. The team soon reached a pipe that led back to the surface, overlooking a grassy area with several stone platforms in the center. Two Ghosts patrolled the area, and snipers were perched here & there. In the distance, the Scarab stood.

**This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us**

Teana switched Mirage to Sniper Mode and quickly picked off the inferior Covenant snipers and two red-armored Elites, and then signaled the rest of the squad to move up. She and John dropped down, and a Warthog armed with an M68 Gauss Cannon drove up. The driver turned to speak to them.

"We could use you on the gun, Chi-"

His words were cut short by a needle rifle round passing through his skull. Teana returned the favor, blasting a particle beam shot straight through the offending Skirmisher's eye. She then hopped in the Warthog, shoving the dead body into the passenger's seat and taking the wheel, while the Master Chief manned the cannon. They made short work of the Ghosts, and moved under an archway to another area. A Wraith stood guard at a tunnel entrance, and two Ghosts drove about. The M68 made short work of all three of them, along with the two Ghosts that leapt down from the road above.

The Warthog drove through the tunnel, reaching a city street surrounded by tall buildings. They took out a Ghost and linked up with another Warthog, and drove left, heading for a building that Cortana mentioned as having marines holed up inside. Two Wraiths sat lobbing mortars at the building. A Gauss Cannon shot to the nearest Wraith's poorly-armored backside gutted the vehicle, and two more shots hit the other Wraith's vulnerable rear section and destroyed it before it could turn to face the newcomers. A Revenant popped up from a side street, and its driver was hit by a shot from the GC, obliterating the Elite from mid-torso up. A Phantom flew in and dropped off two Ghosts – easily dealt with – and opened fire with its plasma guns – also easily dealt with. As the damaged dropship retreated, Teana drove the Warthog up to the entrance of the facility, and she & John dismounted and walked in. Behind them, a Pelican dropped off a Scorpion atop the short bridge.

"Sirs!" a marine greeted them. "Corporal Perez, 'A' Company. CP's this way. The Lieutenant got hit as soon as we dropped in."

"Who's in charge now, Corporal" the Master Chief asked.

"Sergeant Banks, sir. He's up top; come on, I'll take you to him."

They followed the marine up the stairs, passing by multiple defensive turrets manned by hard-eyed marines. Soon they reached the second-floor outlook, where a Sergeant turned to look at them.

**Field Expedient**

"When I asked for reinforcements," he said, "I didn't think they'd send Spartans."

The Scarab walked into view, its heavy armor shrugging off the Scorpion's cannon shots. The Scarab 'looked' at the tank, and opened fire. The massive plasma beam left the tank a smoldering wreck, and the walker started coming closer.

"See this look? It's terror!"

"Marine? Did I give you permission to bitch?"

It continued getting closer, not even noticing the .30-caliber machinegun rounds bouncing off it.

"I don't think it's stopping" Banks said. "Get your heads down!"

The walker climbed directly over and past them, its left rear leg knocking over a radio tower that nearly fell on a marine and also barely missed Sgt. Banks.

"That thing is really startin' to _PISS ME OFF_! Marines, time to kill us a Scarab!"

The Scarab entered an aqueduct, and the assault team went into and through a building, reaching a catwalk that overlooked the artificial river and the war machine. They ran along the pathway, keeping pace with the Scarab and raining rockets down on its deck whenever soldiers came out of it. Eventually, after hanging a left, they reached the end of the aqueduct, and so did the Scarab. It was trapped.

The Spartan pair used the machinegun turret nearby to again clear the deck, and then leapt down onto it. They followed a ramp to the inside of the walker, killing two white-armored Grunts at the bottom. An Elite General opened fire with a carried plasma turret, and the armored pair dove for cover. Teana switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode as her shields recovered, and then rolled a frag grenade out. It went off at the alien's feet; its shields protected it from harm, but it was still knocked over. She ran out, jumped on top of the Elite, pointed Mirage Shotgun at its chest, and fired twice. While she was dealing with the Elite commander, the Master Chief used his own shotgun to kill the two pilots. With the cabin clear, he walked up to the control panel and placed his palm to it. Cortana got to work, and the walker began to come apart, multiple small explosions going off within it. The duo walked out onto the top of the Scarab, and saw as the assault carrier disengaged its gravity lift and began to move, heading up. A Pelican hovered in next to the Scarab.

"That's right, motherfuckers!" Johnson shouted. "Run!"

"Not if we can help it, Johnson" Commander Keyes replied. "Extract those two and return to _In Amber Clad_."

"Roger that."

"Status" Fleet-Admiral Hood radioed.

"Sir, the Prophet is bugging out. Request permission to engage."

"Negative, Commander. I'll vector two heavies for star-side intercept."

As the _Everlasting Twilight _began to ascend, space-time began to ripple along its front end.

"Ma'am!" an Ensign reported. "Slipspace rupture opening off the target's bow. It's going to jump… _inside _the city!"

Keyes turned to the comm. screen. "We don't have time, sir!"

"…Green light! Green light to engage!"

As soon as the Pelican carrying the Spartans was inside the frigate, it rocketed off, closing in on the massive enemy vessel.

"Ma'am, without a destination solution-"

"We are _not _losing that ship!"

The _In Amber Clad _reached the _Everlasting Twilight _just as the slipspace rift finished opening, and both vessels slipped through the gap in space-time. An important thing to know about in-atmosphere slipspace jumps: a ship that is transitioning from slipspace into an atmosphere will have no serious effect; the air is displaced and shoved aside, making no more effect than a strong wind – and as gravitational limits ensure that a ship cannot jump out from any closer than about 600 meters off the ground, by the time that wind reaches the ground it's not devastatingly strong. A jump _to _slipspace, however, requires much more power and force than a jump _from _slipspace, and if performed deep in a solid planet's gravity well, the slipspace-distorted fabric of space-time reacts with the planet's gravitational imprint on it, and 'rebounds' violently.

The result was a cataclysmic shockwave that swallowed up almost all of Mombasa, flattening structures and killing thousands on both sides of the conflict. The blinding white dome of light continued to expand, swallowing up the metropolis with brightness visible for hundreds of miles in every direction.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	25. Delta Halo and Regret

Here's Chapter 24: _Delta Halo _and _Regret_, but first, a little conversation between three Spartans (a 1, a 2, and an unofficial 3).

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**UNSC **_**Broadsword**_**-class Frigate **_**In Amber Clad**_

**Slipspace**

**November 2****nd****, 2552**

The crew was coming out of cryo-sleep now, as Cortana had confirmed that the enemy carrier, along with their little frigate being pulled along for the ride, would be exiting slipspace in less than 24 hours. The marines were starting to come about, and the bridge crew had never gone into freeze in the first place. Three people, however, were already awake and about and had been for 12 hours already. Now, they met in a cargo hold, away from listening ears. Only Cortana was allowed to listen in. Teana sat, holding her helmet in her lap, and looked at John-117 and Avery Johnson, ready to tell everything that Carter had told her, and he had in turn learned from Kurt-051.

"You both already know about the Spartan-1 and Spartan-2 Programs" she said, and they nodded; the Chief had considered Johnson trustworthy enough to explain to him the full story behind the S-II Program during their trip back to Earth in the _Gettysburg_. "Now, let me tell you about the third: Colonel James Ackerson's petty attempt at one-upping his rival Dr. Halsey, disguised as a way to defend humanity: the Spartan-III Program. It started 21 years ago, onboard the _Point of No Return_, the largest ever _prowler_-class vessel and the mobile headquarters of ONI Section 3 Beta-5 Subdivision…"

-40 MINUTES LATER-

600 Spartans dead. John rested his head in his hands, feeling oddly tired despite having not done anything strenuous; Johnson's face could have been carved from stone. Hundreds of Spartans – _children_, at that – thrown away in missions that didn't even affect the overall strategic picture. Lives not spent, but wasted. Aside from that, a Spartan-II was kidnapped for it. Kurt had been snatched away and forced to train suicide soldiers; considering his heart, it was a wonder he hadn't broken from it.

At least, though, Kurt and Mendez had managed to pull a few fast ones on Ackerson and Parangosky, taking several Spartan-IIIs whose capabilities and genetic patterns matched the Spartan-II Program's requirements and outfitting them with actual MJOLNIR armor rather than the cheap, under-protective SPI Armor, and then stuck them into elite teams like S-IIs. And at least Noble Team, the best of them, had not been thrown away, but had instead died deaths that were truly befitting a Spartan (well, John admitted that Kat's was more tragic than anything else, but considering the circumstances it wasn't too embarrassing…).

"Goddamn it…" Johnson muttered.

"Every time I think Ackerson can't get any worse" Cortana said coldly, "he sinks to a new low."

"…I think I know where Dr. Halsey went."

The other three turned to look at John as he spoke.

"She must have dug up a few of the files on the S-III Project… including coordinates for Zeta Doradus and Onyx. She must've gone there with Kelly to try and see if the third batch that's currently in training could be saved from the fate that befell Alpha and Beta Companies."

"Here's hopin' she finds 'em" Johnson said. "If we can get solid evidence for this from Onyx, it'll be enough to get Ackerson put away for life… if Lord Hood doesn't up and shoot him first."

"What about Admiral Parangosky?" Teana asked. "She's pretty much the head of ONI. If she and Hood get into a conflict over this, it'll turn really ugly really quick."

"If that happens," John said, "we'll be there to back him up". The other three nodded.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Substance System**

**November 3****rd****, 2552**

A large rift opened in space-time, and the Covenant assault carrier _Everlasting Twilight _came out, followed by the top sections of several tall buildings, and then the UNSC _In Amber Clad _slipped through just before the rift collapsed. Cmdr. Miranda Keyes, sitting in the captain's chair, was nearly flung forward off of it from the sudden deceleration. "Report!"

"Both engine cores have spun to zero" an Ensign said. "We're drifting."

"Archer pods are cold" the other Ensign continued. "I'll need to re-key the system."

"Do it," she ordered, "and find out where we are." She then radioed Johnson. "You still in one piece, Sergeant-Major?"

"I'm good" the old soldier replied, pulling out a cigar. "Chief? Lanstar?"

"_We _are fine" Cortana replied from within the Chief's helmet.

"No damage or injuries to this unit or to Master" Cross Mirage reported.

"Where are we?" Teana asked her Device.

"Unknown system" he replied, "approximately 11,856 light-years from Earth. Forerunner technology detected in proximity to this ship."

"Ma'am," an Ensign in the bridge reported, "there's an object coming into view now."

"…Cortana… what exactly am I looking at?"

Ahead, a massive ring, 10,000 kilometers in diameter, orbited near a blue gas giant.

"That… is another Halo."

Johnson nearly choked on his cigar. "Say what?" (with another disappearing after-question-mark exclamation mark once posted on the site)

"So _this _is what my father found…" Keyes muttered. "I thought Halo was some sort of super-weapon."

"In a sense" Cortana replied. "If activated, this ring and the other remaining five like it will cause an extermination of sapient life across the entire galaxy."

"I want all the information you've got on the first Halo. Schematics, topography, whatever; I don't care if I have the clearance or not."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Where's our target?"

"The enemy ship has stopped above the ring, ma'am" the navigations officer replied. "We're going to pass right over it."

"Perfect. Given what we know about this ring, it's even more important that we capture the Prophet of Regret. Find out why he came to Earth; why he came here. Chief, Lanstar, take 1st Platoon, hard-drop; secure a landing zone. Sergeant-Major, load up two flights of Pelicans and follow them in."

"Aye-aye, ma'am"

Teana climbed into the SOEIV next to the one that John currently sat in, as Johnson climbed out of another and walked by them.

"Until I can move and fight," Keyes continued, "I'm going to keep a low profile. Once you leave the ship, you're on your own."

"Understood" the Chief replied.

"Over the target in five."

As soon as the frigate was in position, the 12 drop pods lurched and were ejected, beginning their free-fall to the ring's surface.

"Hand onto your helmets!"

At 800 meters above ground, the pods' chutes deployed. At 200 meters, the thrusters on the bottoms of the pods fired. At 50 meters the chutes detached, and the thrusters kicked into overdrive. One pod smashed into a cliff face, killing its occupant, but the other nine landed safely; two of the ODSTs who landed several seconds ahead were gunned down by plasma fire as soon as they exited their pods. The last seven pods hit the ground, and the doors blew out, smacking into a few Covenant.

"Could we possibly make any more noise?" Cortana said. In response, the Chief reached back and pulled out a rocket launcher. "Okay, I guess that's a yes."

**Helljumpers**

"Sir!" an ODST ran up to the Spartans. "We gotta neutralize those turrets!"

They ran up the nearby slope, the Chief firing a rocket and destroying a Shade, killing its operator. The ODST threw a frag grenade, which killed three approaching Grunts. Two more rockets destroyed the other turrets in the area, and the squad moved in toward the structure, killing three Elites and several Skirmishers & Grunts. At the top, a Jackal sniper was taken down without incident, and Teana switched Mirage to Sniper Mode, using it to pick off any remaining hostiles below.

"Heavy weapons disabled, Sergeant-Major" Cortana radioed. "Landing zone secure… for the moment."

"I hear ya. Startin' our approach. Hang tight!"

"Easier said than done" Cortana said. "Inbound Phantoms!"

The first enemy dropship flew in, dropping off two Elites and a pack of Grunts. Teana sniped the Elites while the ODSTs took out the Grunts. The second Phantom's drop-off of 10 Grunts, three Jackals, and two Elites (one of them a sword-wielding Ultra) met a similar fate. Several seconds later, two Pelicans flew in. One hung back, while the other stopped overhead and descended, dropping off a Rocket Warthog. The Chief took the wheel and Teana took shotgun, an ODST Corporal manning the launcher.

"I got a good view comin' in" Johnson radioed. "There's a big building in the middle of this island's lake."

"I saw it too" Cortana replied. "It looked like a temple. If I was a megalomaniac – and I'm not – that's where I'd be."

The Rocket Hog drove around the old building, up a slope and to a trio of Jackals, who Teana took down before they could even raise their shields. Nearby was a beautiful view of the lake.

"Woah…" the ODST said. "It's like a postcard. 'Dear Sarge, kicking ass in outer space. Wish you were here'."

"I heard that, jackass!" Johnson radioed.

They drove up to another facility next a gorge, and a bridge was busy folding itself up. "The controls for the bridge should be inside that structure" Cortana directed. A Shade atop the building fired at the Warthog and was blown to bits by three rockets. Two Ghosts drove up and opened fire; the first was slagged by the multi-rocket launcher, and the other was deprived of its pilot by a particle-beam snipe. A Wraith mortar from across the gap landed several meters away, the shockwave almost knocking the Warthog over. They drove up to the structure, and the Chief hopped out and walked up onto the roof. He looked down through a hole in the roof, spotting the black-armored Elite and three Grunts guarding the terminal. A plasma grenade took out the Elite and one of the Grunts, and the Chief then leapt in and gunned down the other two Grunts. In the center of the room, a hologram of Regret was speaking.

"What's he doing?" John asked.

"Regret's giving a speech" Cortana replied. "A sermon, to be exact. So far it's the standard Covenant liturgy, but I'll translate if he says anything interesting."

He hit the terminal, and the bridge began to unfold and extend.

"Good, the bridge is down" Cortana radioed. "Now about those Wraiths…"

"Roger that" Johnson replied. "Armor's on the way."

A Pelican flew in, using its chin-mounted gun to kill the enemy stragglers, and then dropped off a Scorpion. The Spartans ran over to it, the Master Chief taking the wheel while Teana manned the machinegun, and the Pelican dropped off a marine to drive the Rocket Warthog. The two vehicles drove around the structure and across the bridge; three shots from the Scorpion destroyed one of the two Wraiths, and a few rocket barrages from the Warthog took out the other. Two Ghosts came out from the tunnel ahead, only for the departing Pelican to destroy them with a missile barrage of its own. A Banshee tried to fly in and cause trouble, and got shredded by the Pelican's machinegun for its troubles. The dropship flew away, and the two UNSC vehicles drove through the accessway. They drove through the ruins, destroying another half-dozen Ghosts and a Revenant, along with several Jackals and about a dozen Grunts, and reached a courtyard.

**You Break It, You Buy It**

Several Shade turrets were spread throughout the courtyard, and a trio of Ghosts patrolled. The Scorpion's cannon and the Warthog's rockets made short work of them all, and they moved through the next section of ruins, blowing away five more Ghosts and lots more enemy foot-soldiers (there was one memorable moment where the Scorpion's cannon hit an active/tossed plasma grenade that was in midair, leaving the Grunt who threw it too dumbfounded by the odds of what he'd just witnessed to avoid getting ripped apart by Teana's turret). The next structure was more heavily defended, but the heavy firepower at the humans' disposal cleared it out quickly, leaving wrecked Shades & Ghosts in their wake. They drove around the building, eventually finding a ramp that led up to it. Overhead, a Pelican dropped off several weapon pods as well as four more marines.

There was no way the building would fit the vehicles, so everyone dismounted, the team of two Spartans, an ODST, and five marines fighting their way into the building, killing two Elites and several Grunts & Jackals. Another hologram of Regret stood.

"In a gesture of peace and reconciliation," the hologram said, "the Prophets promised to find the means of the Forerunners' transcendence, and to share this knowledge with the Sangheili. The Sangheili promised to defend the Prophets as they searched. A simple arrangement, that has become our binding Covenant!"

"Transcendence, huh?" Cortana deadpanned.

They fought their way up, killing a few more Elites and another pack of Grunts. They passed through a short cave, coming out at the top of a small waterfall.

**Off the Rock, Through the Bush, Nothing But Jackal**

Ahead, a Jackal Sniper looked out at the area below. The Chief snuck up and snapped its neck, and then looked out at the scenery.

"You always bring me to such nice places" Cortana joked.

Teana walked up and got to work, using Mirage Sniper to pick off Elites and Jackals. The team then made their way down, losing a marine to a Drone swarm that was otherwise quickly dealt with. They moved up the slope and through a short cave, killing an off-guard Elite Ultra, and then continued forward, fighting through a few more Elites & Skirmishers until they cleared the area and passed through a narrow passage. They came out onto a rock platform that led down a ramp into a structure. A few UNSC weapon pods were here.

"Good," Cortana suddenly said, "still no word about the _In Amber Clad _on the Covenant battle-net. It's odd; the Covenant know we've made landfall, but they don't seem to consider us a serious threat. Boy, are they in for a big surprise…"

Teana sniped the two Jackals on the building's roof. Seconds later, a small swarm of Drones flew out, and the Master Chief used his SMG to take them out. The team headed down the ramp and into the structure. Inside, another hologram of Regret stood preaching… and guarded by four Elite Honor Guards – one wielding a plasma repeater, one a concussion rifle, and the others a plasma sword each. A plasma grenade killed one of the sword-wielders, and alerted the other three Elites to the human presence. Concussive plasma shells came flying at the team, blowing a marine's chest open. Teana switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode and ran in, dodging the other sword-wielder's swing and firing twice into its face, taking its head off. The Chief picked up a plasma rifle and wielded it alongside the SMG. He opened fire with both on the Elite carrying the concussion rifle, and the rapid-fire bullets and plasma bolts quickly ate through its shields and tore through its torso. The last Elite dropped its repeater and pulled out a sword, but the marines focused fire and brought it down before it could get in close. The Master Chief walked up to the hologram terminal and placed Cortana into it.

"That's what I thought he said" she remarked. "The Prophet of Regret is planning to activate Halo!"

"Are you sure?" the Chief asked. In response, Cortana snapped her fingers, and the Prophet's sermon was translated into English.

"I shall light this holy ring, release its cleansing flame, and burn a path into the divine beyond!"

Cortana snapped fingers again, and the hologram paused. "Pretty much"

"Commander," John radioed, "we've got a problem."

"So I hear" Keyes responded, "but from what I understand, the Prophet will need an object – the Index – to activate the ring. I've located a Library similar to the one you found on the first Halo. If the rings work the same way, the Index should be inside."

"I'll bet the Covenant are thinkin' the exact same thing" Johnson added.

"Then we'd better beat them to it, Sergeant-Major. Extract your soldiers and meet me at the Library. Chief, Lanstar, I'll secure the Index. You take out the Prophet; he's given us all the intel we need."

The Chief placed his hand on the terminal, and Cortana returned to his armor.

**Testament**

A swarm of Drones descended through the open ceiling, and a marine went down with several needler rounds lodged in his neck, the resulting explosion severing his head. The rest of the team quickly swatted the bugs, along with the two Elites that came in from the upper level. They made their way up and out.

"You know," Cortana remarked, "I think the Forerunners built these new structures around the old, to protect them, to honor them. Pure speculation, mind you; I'd need to make a thorough survey to be sure."

The team fought their way down a walkway and across a bridge, entering another structure and carving through the Grunts there. On the other side, Teana sniped the Elites and Jackal Snipers in the next area, and the Chief added fire from his BR55 to the cause. A gondola headed away from the area, crossing the lake.

"I wish I had more time to decipher these inscriptions" Cortana said, referring to the Forerunner calligraphy carved into the walls. "The Forerunners revered this place; that much is clear. But was it a temple, or a university... I can't say."

The platform ahead was clear, and the team moved up. After almost a minute of peace, a Phantom flew in, and dropped off a pair of Hunters. One of them landed right next to a marine, and smashed him into the ground before he could get away. The Chief picked up and primed two plasma grenades. He rushed in, sticking them both to the Hunter's lower back. The explosion blew the monster in half, and the other one roared in fury at the loss of its bond-brother. Teana scored two hits with Mirage Sniper, and then switched over to Shotgun Mode, ran in, and finished the Hunter off.

"Cortana, the Covenant's getting nosy" Cmdr. Keyes radioed. "I don't want to give away my position, so I'm rerouting a few stragglers to you. I apologize; this is all the support you're gonna get."

"Understood, ma'am"

A Pelican flew in, dropping off a few weapon pods and three marines, one of whom was carrying a shotgun and the other two assault rifles. Everyone stocked up on ammo.

"A gondola's launching from the far tower" Cortana reported. "Big surprise: it's full of Covenant reinforcements."

The gondola reached their current platform, and a force of three Elites (two blue and one red), three Jackals, and five Grunts came out. They were taken out, though one marine went down by a needle rifle shot through the head. The surviving team (two Spartans, an ODST, and three marines) walked onto the gondola.

"Well, they were nice enough to bring us a ride" Cortana remarked.

The Chief hit the switch, and the gondola began to move. Four Drones flew in from the right, and were quickly shredded by the firepower brought to bear on them.

**One-Way Ticket**

"This lake couldn't have been made by volcanic action" Cortana wondered aloud, "which means that it was either built this way on purpose, or was created by some other cataclysmic event."

"Not the time, Cortana"

"Oh sorry, were you trying to kill something?"

Another gondola heading the opposite direction pulled alongside theirs, and seven Drones flew out and attacked, while two Elites and a Skirmisher opened fire from the gondola. Teana and the shotgun marine blew away the Drones, while the Chief used his BR to kill the Skirmisher and one of the Elites. Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode and fired a rifle grenade; it pushed the Elite out into the open and drained its shield, leaving it open for a shot to the skull. The gondola started up again, continuing on toward the structure ahead. As they neared the building, a marine carrying a sniper rifle used it to clear the snipers and turret gunners off the roof. Teana fired a rifle grenade into the open doorway, killing another sniper and two shield-carrying Jackals. When the gondola made contact, everyone piled out and made their way inside, clearing out the Jackals. The Chief made his way up the ramps to the top of the room, killing a Grunt and taking the fuel rod gun it had been running for, along with an extra five-pack of rounds for it. Down below, another swarm of Drones attacked the team, killing another marine before being brought down; now only two Spartans, an ODST, and two marines remained.

"Ah, now I see" Cortana remarked. "There's a submerged section that connects these towers to the outlying structures. Looks like we're goin' down… unless you'd prefer to swim."

An elevator came up, and three Jackals ran out and into the gun-sights of the soldiers, who then boarded the craft. The Chief hit the panel, the doors sealed shut, and the lift lowered into the water and began to travel through the lake.

"I've intercepted a secured transmission from Regret's carrier to _High Charity_. It seems to be a formal apology to Truth & Mercy. Apparently, Regret jumped the gun when he hit Earth, and the others already had plans to send a larger force to the Sol System. He's asking the other two to 'forgive his premature arrival', arguing that 'no human presence was foretold'. More proof that they were looking for a Forerunner artifact, and weren't expecting to find the human homeworld."

Soon, they reached an underwater complex, and the travel pod ascended out of the water and into it. The assault team poured out, making their way a few ramps and reaching a glass-windowed tunnel full of sleeping Grunts. They quietly snuck past the Grunts and followed the halls to a large chamber. In the center was a 100-foot-tall hologram of Regret.

"And people say _I've _got a big head…" Cortana muttered.

"Most of those we encountered in our search were compelled to join our Union," the hologram spoke, "to take part in moment of promise, Freedom for Allegiance, Salvation for Service! But some, like the Humans, chose to impede our progress. Block our access to sacred sites, damage Holy Relics! For their transgressions, the Humans shall be hunted until none remain alive!"

Teana snuck up on a patrolling Honor Guard Elite, leaping onto its back and driving her knife into its neck. The commotion alerted the rest of the Covenant, and she quickly retreated into cover, her shields flaring. A Drone swarm flew in and attacked; Teana took out enemy snipers while the rest of the team swatted the bugs. They moved on, reaching a ramp that led down to the lower level of the room, and two Elite Honor Guards came up it, managing to kill a marine before they went down. As the team reached the other side of the room, another Drone swarm came out. And then two Elite Ultras came out. And then two Hunters showed up on the bottom floor. By the time everything not human was dead, the two Spartans and the ODST were the only ones left, and the Chief had exhausted all but three rounds for his fuel rod gun. The trio moved on to another glass-windowed hallway, and John, following a gut feeling, switched to VISR. Sure enough, there were three cloaked Elites and four cloaked Grunts in the hallway. One went down via a particle beam through the face – apparently Teana had switched her VISR on, too – and three Grunts were killed by the ODST when they panicked and ran around enough to negate their camouflage. They moved in, killing the last Grunt and the other two Elites, and then stopped to catch their breath. After a minute, the ODST was about to say that they should get moving, when a plasma sword impaled him through the chest from behind. The cloaked Elite tossed the body away, and got hit by an overcharged plasma pistol bolt from the Chief, who then shot it through the head with his BR. The Spartan pair moved on, reaching the next submersible elevator and riding it down into the water again.

"Regret's carrier just received a response from _High Charity_," Cortana reported, "a very well-encrypted message from the Prophet of Truth. Listen to this: 'Your haste has jeopardized the fulfillment of our Covenant, threatened our grand design. That you shall be spared a public display of our contempt is thanks only to Mercy and his wise council'. Killing Regret should shake up the Covenant, and maybe help further destabilize it politically, but frankly it sounds like we'd be doing Truth a favor."

The lift arrived at its destination, now above-ground again, and the two Spartans moved out, assassinating an unwary Honor Guard. Another came to check, and got a plasma grenade to the face for its troubles. The panicked Grunts in the next hallway, holding another hologram of Regret, were easy prey.

"Every member of the Covenant shall walk the path!" the hologram shouted. "None will be left behind when our Great Journey begins! That is the Prophets' age-old promise. _And it shall be fulfilled_!"

If Cortana had a physical projection at the moment, she would've face-palmed.

They exited the facility, seeing sunlight again. Teana sniped two Elites up on the ridge ahead, and a Drone swarm flew in and opened fire. Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode full-auto, and she & the Chief shot the bugs out of the sky. They moved up the slope and killed a trio of Skirmishers, and a Pelican flew in.

"This is my last run, Spartans" the pilot said. "I'm nearly out of fuel. We've secured the first tower cluster, so I'll set down there. Call when you're ready for evac."

The dropship deposited several weapons pods. The Chief discarded his fuel-rod gun and grabbed a rocket launcher with six extra rockets. The pair made their way to the next area, killing a few Elites & Jackals and several Grunts. A Spirit flew in and dropped off a squad of Skirmishers, who were dispatched after a few minutes of hide-and-seek-shoot-and-destroy amongst the rocks. John & Teana soon reached the next gondola, from which came a trio of red-armored Elites. A plasma grenade, a shotgun blast, and 12 battle rifle rounds took them down. They got aboard the gondola and hit the switch, and it started moving toward the temple.

"How's it going, you guys?" Keyes radioed.

"So far, so good" Cortana replied. "We're approaching the main temple now."

"Roger that. I'm as close to the library as I can get; there's some sort of barrier. We're trying to find a way around it. I'll keep you posted."

Two Banshees flew in to attack, and were blown away by the Chief's launcher. Another gondola pulled up beside, and two Elite Rangers flew out and opened fire. One got a plasma grenade stuck to it, blowing it to pieces, and the other was smashed by a rocket to the face. The gondola continued on. As they neared the temple, Teana switched Cross Mirage to Sniper Mode and started picking off the welcoming committee waiting for them; the Chief joined in with his BR once they were closer. As the gondola came to a stop and the Spartans walked onto the temple's outer area, they looked up, and spotted as, in space, hundreds of Covenant ships came out of slipspace, followed by a truly gigantic structure that could only be _High Charity_.

"That's the largest Covenant fleet I've ever seen" Cortana muttered, shocked. "The largest _anyone's _ever seen. …700 ships, all but 40 of their entire remaining navy. Get inside the temple and kill Regret before they can stop us!"

**Sorry, Were You in the Middle of Something?**

At the top of the entrance ramp, a red-armored Elite led a squad of Jackals & Grunts out to fight the Spartans. They were dead in 30 seconds. The Spartan pair rushed in, encountering another pack of Elites, this time all white-armored. Mirage Shotgun took two down, and the Chief killed the other two with plasma grenades.

"The Covenant Navy has launched dozens of Phantoms" Cortana announced. "We don't have much time!"

They entered the large chamber, which was filled with Honor Guard Elites, along with a Zealot, and at the other end hovered the Prophet of Regret. "Guards! Remove this filth from my presence!"

The Elites charged, swords blazing. Teana switched Mirage to double Longsword Mode, tossing one to the Chief, and they waded through, dodging, blocking, and slicing their way through the hostile crowd. They burst through, sprinting toward the Prophet. The Zealot rushed to meet them, and Teana locked blades with it, entering frantic swordfight and freeing the Chief to reach his target. He dived to the side to avoid a plasma beam cannon from the Prophet's gravity throne, and then leapt onto the device. He could see the startled look on the Prophet's face, right before he drove Teana's sword through Regret's skull. He leapt off, landing atop the Zealot and stabbing it through the neck, as Regret's throne crashed to the ground behind him. The Honor Guards received a transmission and bugged out, exiting the temple with great haste.

"Good news and bad news, guys" Cortana reported. "The good news is that the Phantoms are turning around. The bad news is that Regret's assault carrier is about to blow this temple to bits. We need to get out of here!"

As they came back outside, the _Everlasting Twilight _took up position above them and opened fire with its ventral energy projector. The temple began to crumble, and the Spartans ran as fast as they could. At the last second, they leapt into the lake, being knocked unconscious on impact with the water. As they sank, a few tentacles grabbed hold of them.

"**THIS IS NOT YOUR GRAVE… BUT YOU ARE WELCOME IN IT.**"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	26. Gravemind

Here's Chapter 25. Things start diverging. And yes, I know I'm probably portraying the Elites as smarter and more open-minded & accepting than they are in canon.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Halo Installation 05**

**Subterranean complex deep below the Library**

**November 4****th****, 2552**

Consciousness came quickly, as Teana realized that she was still in her armor, still had Cross Mirage clipped to her hip in pistol form, and was being held up by… something, which was wrapped around her torso. The thing holding her moved, pulling her through the air, and she caught sight of the Master Chief to her left, also held by… a tentacle? So that's what it was. And Teana had the feeling that this was _not _going to turn out like that adults-only anime she saw on TV once (and then watched again. And then downloaded and added to her computer's private files). Sure enough, the tentacles pulled them forward, and they came face-to-something with a bizarre, massive thing… a thing that Teana could tell just by looking at was a Flood form. A big one.

"What" Cortana said "is _that_?"

"**I?**" it responded telepathically in a deep, rumbling bass."**I AM A MONUMENT TO ALL YOUR SINS.**"

Just then, a third figure was brought forth, struggling futilely to escape the Flood King's grasp. It was an Elite, clad in ornate silver armor and a black-and-blue bodysuit.

"Relax" the Chief told him. "I'd rather not get this thing angry."

"Demon?" the Elite spotted the Spartans, recognizing Regret's killer. The three suddenly felt their minds – their surface thoughts and memories – being gazed upon, and the massive Flood creature held them aloft, analyzing them.

"**THIS ONE IS MACHINE AND NERVE,**" he said, looking at the Chief, "**AND HAS HIS MIND CONCLUDED.**"

The creature turned to look at the Arbiter. "**THIS ONE IS BUT FLESH AND FAITH, AND IS THE MORE DELUDED.**"

It looked at Teana. "**THIS ONE IS YOUNG, LACKS THE WISDOM OF THE FIRST, BUT HAS THOUGHTS CLEARER THAN THOSE OF THE SECOND. AND SOMETHING ELSE… AH! A MAGE, WITH A SEALED CORE. AND YOUR STYLE OF MAGIC – 'MIDCHILDAN' - LOOKS TO HAVE BEEN DERIVED OR DESCENDED FROM THE FORERUNNERS'. INTERESTING…**"

"Either let us loose or kill me and be done with it, parasite," the Arbiter said, "but do not waste my time with talk!"

"**THERE IS MUCH TALK,**" the thing responded to the Arbiter, "**AND I HAVE LISTENED, THROUGH ROCK AND METAL AND TIME. NOT **_**I **_**SHALL TALK, AND **_**YOU **_**WILL LISTEN…**"

Two more tentacles came up. The thinner one was wrapped around a red-eyed Monitor, and the thicker one had the horrible sight of a Prophet seemingly partially absorbed into it.

"Greetings!" the Monitor said. "I am 2401 Penitent Tangent. I am the Monitor of Installation 05."

"And I am the Prophet of Regret!" the not-technically-alive other said. "Councilor most high… Hierarch of the Covenant!"

"Reclaimers? Here? At last! We have much to do! This facility must be activated if we are to control this outbreak!"

"Stay where you are! Nothing can be done until my sermon is complete!"

"Not true. This installation has a successful utilization record of 1.2 trillion simulated and one actual. It is ready to fire on demand."

"Of all the objects our Lords left behind," Regret turned to speak to the Arbiter, "there are none so worthless as these Oracles! They know nothing of the Great Journey!"

"And _you _know nothing about containment!" the Monitor snapped at him. "You have demonstrated complete disregard for even the most basic protocols!"

"**THIS ONE'S CONTAINMENT,**" a shrug of disgust, "**AND THIS ONE'S GREAT JOURNEY ARE THE SAME.**"

The two were pulled out of sight, Regret screaming as he was fully absorbed. For the next several seconds, the Prophet's voice could be heard as part of the Flood King's, fading out as the last of him was absorbed. He turned to the Arbiter.

"**YOUR PROPHETS HAVE PROMISED YOU FREEDOM FROM A DOOMED EXISTENCE, BUT YOU WILL FIND NO SALVATION ON THIS RING. THOSE WHO BUILT THIS PLACE KNEW WHAT THEY WROUGHT; DO NOT MISTAKE THEIR INTENT, OR ALL WILL PERISH AS THEY DID BEFORE.**"

"This thing is right" the Chief interjected. "The Halos are a weapon. Your Prophets are making a huge mistake."

"They're a sterilization array" Teana continued, "meant to starve the Flood by killing all sapient life in the galaxy."

"Your ignorance already destroyed _one _of the Sacred Rings, demons. It shall not harm another!" The Spartans could hear the hesitation in the Elite's voice; seeds of doubt had been sown.

"**IF YOU WILL NOT HEAR THE TRUTH,**" the Flood King – now identified to the Spartans by Cortana's Halo-found data-tracks as the Flood's central commanding super-intelligence known as the Gravemind – said, "**THEN I WILL SHOT IT TO YOU. THERE IS STILL TIME TO STOP THE KEY FROM TURNING, BUT FIRST IT MUST BE FOUND. YOU TWO WILL SEARCH ONE LIKELY SPOT, WHILE YOU WILL SEARCH ANOTHER. FATE HAD US MEET AS FOES, BUT THIS RING WILL MAKE US BROTHERS!**"

The Gravemind tapped into Halo's teleportation grid. While he was too large to be teleported, he could still send others through the grid. The trio disappeared in rings of golden light.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Covenant Holy City **_**High Charity**_

"We are, all of us, gravely concerned."

The masses were borderline rioting, as Brute Honor Guards stood between them and the Council Chamber, where Truth & Mercy currently were, the forming broadcasting over a city- and fleet-wide comm. channel.

"The release of the Parasite was unexpected, unfortunate, but… there is no need to panic. In truth, this is a time to rejoice, a moment all the Covenant should savor, for the Sacred Icon has been found! With it, our path is clear, our entry into the Divine Beyond guaranteed! The Great Journey is nigh, and nothing, not even the Flood, can stop it."

Just as these last few words left Truth's lips, two pillars of golden rings appeared, and faded out to reveal two Spartans. The Chief looked down at a Grunt next to him.

"Boo."

The Grunt screamed, running away as the Chief stole his needler. Teana switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode, and the two Spartans aimed at the Prophets. The Brute Honor Guards crossed their staffs between the Prophets and the intruders, as Truth activated an energy shield built into his hover-throne. "Kill the demons!" he ordered, as the platform he & Mercy were on descended into the floor.

**Inside Job**

The two Honor Guard Brutes tossed aside their staffs and drew red plasma rifles, and opened fire. The bolts of these rifles were red, and their rate of fire was faster than the Elite model. The Chief fired the needler at the guard on the left, and nine needles stuck in and blew the beast's torso apart. The other one dropped its rifle and charged them at surprising speed, but Teana waited until it was within four feet and pulled the trigger, the 8-gauge buckshot tearing through the Brute's skull. Three Grunts came out from the side doors and were quickly dealt with, not expecting the reported intruders to be a pair of 'Demons'.

"The Demons have infiltrated the Council Chamber!" A Brute's voice came over the intercom. "Protect the Hierarchs; seal the exits!"

"Oh, I don't think so…" Cortana said, highlighting a terminal by the far door on the Chief's HUD. Before he could head over there, though, three more Brutes came out from the upper levels. One jumped down and was killed by Teana. The Chief grabbed a dead Grunt's needler and dual-wielded, quickly taking down the other two Brutes. The platform/elevator at the back of the room re-emerged, carrying two gold-armored Brute Captains, one with a plasma repeater and the other with a carbine. A plasma grenade took out the one carrying the repeater, and Teana shotgunned the carbine-wielder; the Chief took the carbine and four spare clips of ammo for it from the body. They walked over to the locked exit, and the Chief placed Cortana into the terminal.

"The Prophet of Truth has the Index" she said. "We have to take it from him. Let me get these doors." The red doors turned purple and slid open. They looked at Cortana. "Go" she said. "It'll be easier to track Truth if I stay in the network."

They moved through, reaching a room with five Grunts (one manning a plasma turret) and three Brutes. The Chief used his carbine to kill the turret-gunner, while Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode and fired a 40mm grenade into the Brutes, stunning and wounding them; a few single shots to the heads finished them off. The last Brute tossed its weapon down and was about to charge when a carbine bolt took its life. Through the next door, they reached a long platform overlooking the city. A Brute Captain with a concussion rifle was waiting for them, and they barely dodged a trio of plasma shells. A plasma grenade from Teana stuck to the weapon, and the Brute tried to toss it aside; however, the detonation set off the plasma remaining in the gun's current ammo clip, and the resulting compound detonation roasted the Brute. They killed a few Jackals, a few Grunts, and a gold-armored Skirmisher in the area, and then a trio of Brutes – two in partial blue armor and one in shiny gold – emerged from the gravity lift ahead. The Brute Minors fired their needle rifles, while the Captain lobbed two Brute Shot grenades at the Spartan pair. The Chief used his needlers to kill the Captain, while Teana used Mirage Rifle to gun down one of the Minors. The remaining Brute charged, and as it pounced the Chief deliberately dropped onto his back and spring-kicked the Brute past him and over the edge. He got back up, and walked over to an ammo crate to stock up on carbine rounds. Teana picked up the Brute Shot, which only had three shots in it. They then walked over to the gravity lift, where Cortana was waiting.

"Truth is moving through the lower levels of this tower" she said. "I'll reverse this grav-lift; drop down and try to cut him off."

The hatch opened, the swirling patterns now heading down instead of up. The Spartans stepped in and rode it down, Teana firing a Brute Shot round to kill the two Jackals and two Grunts that stepped out through the next doorway. They entered the quiet, empty room.

"Reinforce all approaches to the holding pens" a Brute said over the intercom. "Slay the Demons on sight!"

"They're beefing up their patrols" Cortana reported. "Stay sharp."

They moved through the next door to a hallway, the Chief tossing his only frag grenade to kill a trio of high-rank Jackals. They moved in, Teana firing a rifle grenade from Mirage to kill the two remaining Jackals, and then opening fire on a Brute. The Chief used his carbine to kill the other Brute in the hall, just as Teana brought her target down. Three Grunts and a Brute Minor came in from the door at the end, and the Grunts were quickly head-shotted by the Chief while Teana took out the Brute.

"Wait a minute!" Cortana radioed. "I'm reading UNSC marine IFF transponders! The signals are originating somewhere below your position."

"Good" Teana said. "Now we can find some distractions- er, I mean 'backup'."

The Chief glared at her, but said nothing.

They entered the next hallway, killing a few sleeping Grunts and a drowsy Brute, and moved through quietly until they were spotted by another Brute, who opened fire, waking up the five other sleeping Grunts further down the hall. They blasted their way through the Covenant, reaching the next room, a larger two-leveled room with a gravity lift in the middle. The duo killed the Brutes and Skirmishers in the room, Teana grabbing more ammo for her Brute Shot while the Chief gathered three spike grenades. Another wave of Brutes and Grunts came through the side doors, but a few plasma grenades cleared them out. They went to the lower level and stepped into the gravity lift.

"There are two groups of marines in this detention block" Cortana reported as they were carried down. "I'll zero their locations; you two neutralize the guards… _quietly_."

They reached the prison complex, landing behind a Brute. The Chief drove his knife through the beast's neck, and they quickly ducked down out of sight. Teana had Cross Mirage scan the immediate area: two patrolling Jackals, and multiple sleeping Grunts. The two Spartans split up, successfully stealth-killing the Jackals and then rendering the Grunts' sleep permanent. They met up at the lift and rode it down to the second level. They assassinated another Brute guard, and entered the only unlocked prison chamber. Inside were a Brute Captain and two Jackals. Teana killed the Brute with two Brute Shot grenades, while the Chief used his carbine to kill the Jackals. With the way clear, Cortana opened the cells, and four marines climbed out, grabbing various Covenant weapons (namely, a plasma pistol, two plasma rifles, and a needler).

"Listen up, marines!" Cortana said. "The Spartans are hunting a Prophet! And you're gonna help 'em kill it! Chief, Lanstar, come to the lower level. One more group of marines to go."

The team exited the chamber, killing the Grunt and two Skirmishers that came up from the lower level, and rode the lift down. They fought their way through more guards, though one of the marines wielding a plasma rifle was killed, several plasma bolts from a Jackal burning through his head and neck. They reached the next detention block, and the Chief snuck in and assassinated the lone Brute, while the marines dispatched the sleeping Grunts. Cortana opened the cells, and three marines joined the party, grabbing a carbine, a needler, and a brute plasma rifle.

"That's all of the marines, Spartans" Cortana said. "Good work. Now let's go chase down that Prophet."

The team of two Spartans and six marines headed up to the top level. Suddenly, Cortana radioed them: "Hostile reinforcements, coming down the lift!" Three Brutes, four Skirmishers, and eight Grunts arrived, two of the latter setting up plasma turrets. The squad fought their way through, aided by the Chief's dual needlers and Tia's grenade launcher, killing the Covenant but losing the plasma-pistol marine. They all got aboard the gravity lift and rode it up. At the top, there were two dead Elites, one of them an Honor Guard with silver armor instead of red. The Chief scavenged the Elite's plasma sword, clipping it to his right hip.

"Fear not, my brothers," Truth broadcasted over the intercom, "the Sacred Icon is secure. It was Tartarus and his Jiralhanae who secured the Icon from the Flood. For that they have our thanks."

"Excellent" Cortana said. "Truth is broadcasting on the move. That'll make him much easier to track."

Just then, three Elite Minors and a swarm of Drones came through the door ahead. They were all killed, though one of the needler marines was as well. During the battle, something odd was noticed: the Drones and the Elites were shooting at _each other_ as well as at the humans. What's more, when the team of seven entered the next hallway, they found three more dead Elites, along with two Elite Honor Guards trading fire with another group of Drones. The Chief signaled the rest of the squad to hang back. The Elites managed to kill the Drones along with two interrupting Brute Minors, and then moved on, hanging a left in the next inter-hallway connection and locking the door behind them.

"What the hell?" a marine asked.

"Recent data suggests that the Covenant is seriously unstable politically as of late" Cortana answered. "Maybe the Spartans' actions have set something in motion…"

"Which is why if we find any more fights," the Chief continued, "we'll hang back and let them tear each other up before we jump in."

They passed through the door, and the door ahead opened to reveal a Drone swarm… that was torn apart by automatic fire from Teana's device/rifle as they funneled through the small connecting room. The squad moved on to the next hallway.

"The Sangheili have failed to protect the Prophets," Truth broadcasted, "and in so doing put all our lives at risk. Let no warrior forget his oath: 'thou in faith shall keep us safe, whilst we find the path'."

"I've got a fix on Truth just outside this tower" Cortana radioed. "There's an exit nearby; hurry."

Ahead, Jackals and Brutes did battle with three more Elite Honor Guards. The Elites on, though one of them was killed, and move on. After about half a minute, the human squad followed. They entered another room, and three of the marines moved forward, scouting ahead… and were promptly vaporized by an explosive fuel-rod shot from a Loyalist Hunter. The two Spartans and two remaining marines promptly dove into cover. Teana switched Mirage to Sniper Mode, as the Chief readied his carbine.

Five minutes later, the Hunters were dead, but so were the last of the marines. The Spartan pair, alone again, moved on. They came to a large, rocky area, where Elites & Grunts fought Brutes & Jackals.

"With my blessing, the Jiralhanae now lead our fleets" Truth broadcasted. "They ask for your allegiance, and _you shall give it_!"

"You wouldn't believe the number of kill-systems the Covenant are throwing down around me" Cortana reported.

"Can you handle them?" Teana asked.

"Don't worry, it's pretty sloppy stuff. I guess they never expected a hostile intelligence to penetrate their networks from the _inside_."

A little while in, a Separatist Hunter pair entered the area to support the Elites, followed by a Drone swarm assisting the Brutes. Teana took out the Jackal Snipers, and the Spartan pair then found a seat and watched the carnage. While they waited, they and Cortana discussed their options. Eventually, they came to their decision.

The battle finally ended, the Brutes victorious due to larger numbers (though there were only two left now), and the Spartans leapt in and killed the hostile pair. They crossed the rocky area, killing three more Brutes that emerged and passing through their next door, finding a long, downward-sloping hallway.

"The Covenant just destroyed six of their own ships!" Cortana reported. "And I'm getting countless reports of small-arms fire throughout the fleet! I knew the Covenant was unstable, but I didn't see _this _coming…"

"So what do we have?" the Chief asked.

"Truth has betrayed the Elites. Sides have been chosen amongst the other species. Reports from out-system have confirmed it: the Covenant has descended into a full-scale civil war."

The Spartans mulled this over as they exited the hallway to find a horizontal gravity-lift. As they approached it, there was a flash of light to the left. A slipspace rift opened, and from it came a UNSC frigate: the _In Amber Clad_. It soared overhead, flying left and disappearing from sight.

"Be glad!" Truth broadcasted. "A reward for all your toil and sacrifice is near at hand!"

"Hailing… no response" Cortana reported. "She's crashed into another tower ahead of our position. I'll keep trying to make contact, but I'm not registering any human vital signs."

They took the lift-bridge across, and hid behind cover as Brutes & Elites emerged and starting killing each other. Afterward, the lone survivor – an injured Brute – was taken down by a skull-shot from the Chief, and the Spartan pair went around the tower to a large, long area, where Elites & Brutes did battle. Following their earlier decision, the two Spartans started picking off Brutes… while leaving the Elites untouched. At the end, the five surviving Elites (an Honor Guard, a Major, a Minor, and two Rangers) spotted the Spartans walking toward them, weapons away. The Elites kept their guns trained on the armored humans, but did not fire.

"Well," the Chief said after several awkward seconds, "since the Covenant has split, we decided that we might as well pick a side. Besides, you Elites actually have some morality and honor, unlike the Brutes who slaughter everything in sight. Plus, you're smarter, so you'd be more valuable as allies."

"Plus there's the whole thing with you guys being the only ones to think that we humans are worth something besides target practice or food" Teana added in.

"What is your business here on _High Charity_, humans?" the Honor Guard asked, now a bit more cordial.

"We're hunting the High Prophet of Truth," Cortana said as she appeared from a nearby holo-terminal, "to stop him from dooming us all."

"We, too, plan to pursue Truth," a Ranger said, "for he and his Jiralhanae have committed a most unforgivable betrayal against us. What's more, he plans to start the Great Journey while leaving our people behind."

"Yeah, about that…" Cortana said.

For the next few minutes, Cortana outlined the truth of the Halos, erasing the Elites' doubt by showing data directly from Halo-04's core. The Elites were horrified.

"Our Covenant… is based on lies?"

"Not lies, necessarily" Cortana replied. "The Forerunners' written language is multi-leveled and _very _complex, and the Covenant have made countless translation errors. The Covenant is built on mistranslations, not lies. We humans have something called Hanlon's Razor: '___Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity'. The Prophets weren't technically lying, since __they ____didn't know the truth either."_

_"__But why would they order humanity's destruction?" the Major asked. "Quite frankly, I cannot see how a mistranslation could lead to __that____."_

___Cortana let out a sad sigh. "I don't know. Perhaps Truth found something in Forerunner records that mentioned us; something that worried him, that made him consider us a threat to him… or, more likely, to his power and influence."_

_"…__And he would've falsely decreed you as heretics to protect himself" the Elites were now quite angry, both at Truth and at themselves._

"I just remembered!" one of the Rangers said. "Some time ago, shortly after the destruction of the Sacr- …of Halo-04, the Arbiter captured that Halo's Oracle… Monitor, rather. Truth most likely will have learned the truth from it by now. But why would he seek to activate the Rings if he knew what that would do?"

"Perhaps he means to rid the galaxy of his enemies – including humanity and _us_ – while somehow keeping himself safe from the effect."

The Spartans stood back, thinking about the – rather sensible and likely – possibilities that the Elites were coming up with. Teana, in particular, had already been angry enough that the war that had killed Noble Team was some religious crusade. But the possibility that it was actually all because of one person's greed and lust for power… she was so angry that she was starting to shake. The Chief wasn't faring much better, though he kept a tighter leash on his anger, turning it into cold, silent hatred toward the High Prophet.

After much deliberation, the Elites made their decision. The Honor Guard would head back the way the Spartans came and find a broadcast terminal (Cortana uploaded a map to the closest one to him), and inform all the Elites and those who sided with them, all across _High Charity_ and Halo-05, that the Demons were allies in their vendetta against the Prophets. He would then broadcast the truth of the Halos, in the form of a copy of the data given to him by Cortana. Lastly, the Elite Major would accompany the Spartans while the rest of them went with the Honor Guard, so as to ensure that their brethren did not attack the human pair before the broadcast could be sent.

As the HG and the three other Elites went off, the trio moved forward, rounding a corner and finding another fight between Elites & Grunts vs. Brutes & Jackals. The trio assisted the Elite Special-Ops team in fighting off the enemy, and the Major explained the situation to his comrades. The two Spec-Ops Elites and the lone surviving Grunt decided to accompany the mixed-species assault team in pursuing Truth and killing those loyal to him. They crossed the horizontal grav-lift, passing through a hallway (killing a trio of Drones) and entering a chamber where three blue-armored Elites and two Elite Rangers fought against a trio of Brutes and a half-dozen Drones. The Elite Major and Teana gunned down the Drones, while the Chief and the Spec-Ops dealt with the Brutes. By now, the Honor Guard had gotten the 'humans are allies' message across, though he had followed Cortana's last-second suggestion to hold off on the truth behind the Halos until after Truth was dealt with, so as to avoid causing a loss of morale in some of the Separatists from having their world-view shattered.

"At this moment," Truth broadcasted, "the councilors gather on Halo, to see the Icon safely placed."

"Rise, pack-brothers!" Tartarus pitched in. "Cast down the Sangheili!"

"There are those who said this day would never come. What have they to say now?"

"Once the towers are clear, we'll drive them from the lower districts!"

The team gathered in the center (one of the Elite Rangers had been killed in the fight). A force of three Jackals stepped through the door nearby, only for the one at the rear to suddenly draw his knife and kill the other two. He identified himself as a member of the Ikrut Clan, the clan that Chen S'Yar belonged to. After about a minute of planning, the friendly Jackal accompanied the Grunt, the Ranger, and two of the blue-armored Elites down a separate path, to link up with another Sangheili force progressing toward one of _High Charity_'s armories, while the two Spartans and three other Elites continued on after Truth. They passed through a hallway, reaching another gravity bridge. They crossed it, finding a strangely empty area.

"I have listened to the Oracle," Truth broadcasted, "and he confirmed out deepest hope: the Great Journey begins with Halo."

One of the Elites scoffed; Truth was still telling lies to lead his followers.

"The Sangheili are falling back to the Mausoleum" a Brute Chieftain added in. "Fools! Their Arbiter can do nothing for them now."

"Wrong!" Teana said aloud, catching the Elites' attention. "The Arbiter is the one wearing that skimpy silver armor, right? We saw him alive less than three hours ago."

This bit of news raised the team's Elites' spirits, knowing that their Arbiter still lived. The team rounded the corner, finding two Brutes chasing down a pack of terrified Grunts. One of the Spec-Ops Elites dashed in and used his sword to slice apart the nearest Brute, catching the attention of the five surviving Grunts, who immediately ran to the Elites' side. The other Brute charged, only to spot the rest of the assault team waiting for it; the Chief ran forward and tackled it, knocking it over the edge. They continued on, reaching another grav-bridge. The Elite Minor volunteered to stay behind and prevent any pursuing Loyalists from passing; three of the Grunts stayed with him, while the other two accompanied the assault team across the bridge.

They entered a hallway/slope that went upward; from the door at the top came three Brutes (two Captains and a Minor), who were quickly sniped by Teana. The team made their way up, reaching another large, rocky area, where down below three Elites and a half-dozen Grunts were engaged in battle with four Brutes. The assault team quickly killed the Covenant forces (including the two Jackal Snipers), and when a second wave of Brutes came out they also met a quick and brutal end. The team made their way up the rock slope and to the other door, where five Elites (a General, two Spec-Ops, and two Ultras) and a green-armored Grunt carrying a fuel-rod cannon came out to meet them. The Ultras stayed behind, as did one of the lesser Grunts, while the fuel-rod Grunt, the two Spec-Ops Elites, and the General joined the assault team.

(Trying to keep track here: the Master Chief, Teana, an Elite General, an Elite Major, an Elite Ranger, four Spec-Ops Elites, and two Grunts – one fuel-rod and one needler)

They moved on, linking up in the next room with an Elite Ultra, another Spec-Ops Elite, and four Spec-Ops Grunts. They all chose to remain here as an obstacle to the Brutes, though the Ultra did hand the Chief a fuel-rod gun with three spare five-packs of ammo, while the FRG Grunt picked up two extra packs. They reached another gravity lift chamber, though Cortana mentioned that they needed to move on through the door on the other side rather than take the lift. Two Spec-Ops Elites and two Grunts guarded the room. From the other door suddenly came three Brutes and two Skirmishers. They were brought down by the overwhelming firepower brought to bear on them, and the assault team continued through, reaching the pathway that led to a large, unique-looking structure.

"If we're going to catch Truth," Cortana radioed, "we'll need to take a shortcut, straight through the Mausoleum."

A trio of Brutes and a Jackal were killed before they could even turn fully around to face the newcomers, and the team moved to the center, finding two Elites – one red-armored and one blue-armored – and a Shade turret. A swarm of Drones attacked and were quickly killed. Further down, another group of Separatists – three Spec-Ops Elites, four Spec-Ops Grunts, and a Hunter pair – came out of the Mausoleum, engaging another, larger Drone swarm in battle. The assault team rushed in to render assistance, and the swarm was quickly swatted, though two of the Grunts were killed by the buggers.

(The Master Chief, Teana, an Elite General, two Elite Majors, an Elite Ranger, seven Spec-Ops Elites, an Elite Minor, two Hunters, and five Grunts)

The now even-larger force entered the Mausoleum, to find a quartet of Brute Captains engaging three Elite Ultras (one with a fuel rod gun, one with a plasma repeater, and one with a concussion rifle) in battle. One of the Hunters fired an explosive round, which destroyed one Brute from mid-torso up. Teana sniped a second Brute and then switched Mirage to Rifle Mode, wounding a third that one of the Ultras then finished off.

"Alert!" Cortana reported. "Multiple waves of Covenant Loyalists approaching the Mausoleum! Everyone, get ready!"

The assault team hunkered in, finding cover and readying weapons. Half a minute later, a pack of 15 high-ranking Brutes rushed in from the side passages, and the assault team opened fire. When 6 of the Brutes had been taken down, friendly reinforcements arrived, in the form of another Hunter pair. The four Hunters helped greatly in killing the rest of the Brutes. By the end, three of the Grunts, an Elite Major, and a Spec-Ops Elite were dead. The remainder of the squad moved on, linking up with two more Spec-Ops Elites and an Elite Honor Guard Captain.

"Hang on" Cortana said. "I'm picking up two more transponders. It's the Commander and Johnson! They're closing on Truth's position! They'll need your help!"

As they approached the door, a Brute Chieftain stepped through, wielding a gravity hammer. The Master Chief charged in, igniting his plasma sword, and locked it with the hammer's shaft, stopping its swing. He rolled to the side and swung, draining the Chieftain's shields almost completely. The Chieftain roared and swung the hammer blade-first at the Chief; the strike clipped him, draining his shields by ¾. He thrusted the blade forward, and it punched through the weakened shields and stabbed the Brute through the shoulder, causing it to drop its hammer. Another horizontal swing cleaved its head in half above the upper jaw. The Chief then picked up the hammer and gave it to the most muscular Elite – one of the Ultras. "You have the physical strength to do the most damage with the least amount of effort" he reasoned, and the Elite nodded. The group moved through the door and started crossing the final pathway.

"This isn't good" Cortana said. "I'm getting confirmed reports of Flood leaving _In Amber Clad_'s wreckage. Let's get the Index and find a way out of here, before things get _really _ugly…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

The Covenant group moved toward the Phantoms, their two prisoners being pushed along.

"Split them up" Tartarus ordered. "One in each Phantom."

One Brute Honor Guard shoved Johnson along, while Commander Keyes walked along in as dignified a manner as she could muster. She spared a glance at her ship, half-buried into the side of a tower. Tartarus walked toward Truth and kneeled before him.

"The hopes of all the Covenant rest on your shoulders, High-Chieftain" Truth said, handing the Index to the Jiralhanae Alpha.

"My faith is strong" Tartarus replied. "I will _not _fail."

Just then, a pack of Infection Forms pulled themselves up onto the platform and charged the group. The two Brute Honor Guards tossed aside their staffs. They punched, swatted, kicked, and stomped, killing most of the Flood forms. But one got through, leaping through the air and digging into the Prophet of Mercy's neck. The elderly Prophet screamed, falling from his throne and grasping at the foot-tall abomination trying to chew into his neck. Tartarus bent over and reached down to pry the thing loose.

"Let him be."

Tartarus stopped, surprised at Truth's sudden order to abandon a High Prophet to death. Truth looked down at the still-struggling Mercy.

"The Great Journey waits for no-one, brother. Not even you."

As Truth & Tartarus boarded the last Phantom, Mercy continued to feebly struggle, the Infection Form still trying to eat its way into him.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	27. The Emptying of the Grave

Here's Chapter 26. Teana goes elsewhere near the beginning, so it's pretty much a Chief chapter.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Substance System**

**Covenant Mobile Planetoid **_**High Charity**_

**November 4****th****, 2552**

The team rode the gravity lift down to the dock, just in time to witnessed three Phantoms lift off and fly away. One headed for the massive tower in the middle of the city, while the other two peeled off and headed outside _High Charity_. They walked forward, and found the High Prophet of Mercy lying on the ground, an Infection Form still digging into his neck.

"Truth" the Chief said. "Where's he going?"

The Prophet turned his head to look at the Spartan. "Earth" he rasped. "To finish what he started. To rid the galaxy of those who oppose him. …I feel that you humans do not deserve extinction. All beings bask in the light of the Gods… but Truth's light has been eclipsed… by the darkness of his own heart. …Noble Sangheili… for Truth's betrayal… I am sorry…"

With that, Mercy closed his eyes and was still, and the Infection Form stopped, sensing the death of his host. The Elites closed their eyes and bowed their heads, as the Chief reached down and crushed the Infection Form between his hands. Suddenly, Cortana projected herself from a nearby terminal.

"That structure in the center of the city is a Forerunner ship!" she said, "and Truth is heading straight for it! If he leads the Loyalist fleet to Earth, the UNSC won't stand a chance! We _have _to stop him!"

"That big, silver Brute with the hammer has the Index," the Chief replied, "and the Commander and Johnson. He can activate the ring."

"If he does, I'll detonate _In Amber Clad_'s reactor just like we did the _Autumn_'s. The blast will destroy this city _and _the ring. Not a very original plan, but we know it'll work."

The Chief reached out, ready to take her back into his armor. "No" she stopped him. "I don't want to chance a remote detonation. …I need to stay here."

Before either Spartan could dwell on this, a Pelican flew in behind them, sliding to a stop on another part of the dock. From its troop bay came a dozen Combat Forms.

**Cross-Purposes**

"Flood-controlled dropships are touching down all over the city" Cortana reported. "That creature underneath the Library, that Gravemind, used us. We were just a diversion; _In Amber Clad_ was always his intended vector. There's a conduit connecting this tower to the ship. Head back inside. I'll lead you to it."

A force of Combat Forms crossed the bridges and was brought down by the team before they could get close. A Juggernaut Form raced toward them, only to be killed by four shots from the Chief's fuel rod gun. They made their way across the bridge, securing the docks and rescuing four Grunts.

"We should split our forces" the Elite General said. "I shall lead some of our team to the surface of the ring, to link up with Commander Vadumee and assist in halting Tartarus."

"I'll lead the force to pursue Truth" the Chief said. "Teana, go with the team heading down to Halo."

"But-"

"That's an order. If something happens up here, you won't die with me."

"…Yes, sir."

"I'll need two volunteers to stay and help me. You may not be getting out alive."

The Elite Ranger and one of the Spec-Ops Elites stepped forward. The Chief nodded, and handed Teana his fuel-rod gun and the two five-packs of ammo he had left for it. He walked over to the crashed Pelican, and retrieved an MA5C assault rifle and ten magazines for it; he also scavenged three more carbine clips from a dead Brute nearby. He checked to ensure that his plasma sword – still with 80% charge – was secured to his hip. The Ranger grabbed two fresh plasma rifles from an ammo crate. The Special-Ops Elite discarded his nearly-dry plasma repeater and grabbed a needle rifle and six clips for it, also checking to secure his 72%-charge sword, and grabbed a human shotgun with 15 extra shells. Lastly, everyone stocked up on frag & plasma grenades, the Chief also grabbing a pair of spike grenades. The Elites, Grunts, and Teana boarded a pair of Phantoms, which took off and headed for Halo.

The trio headed through the exit, and at the other end of the room a quarter of Brutes waiting to ambush them was in turn ambushed by seven Combat Forms. The Flood won, though only two Combat Forms survived and were promptly taken out by the Chief using his sword. They moved forward, reaching a gravity lift and stepping in, being carried upward.

"I'll disable this lift once you reach the top" Cortana radioed the team. "That'll slow them down… I hope."

They reached a dark hallway; a Jackal lay dead against an ammo crate, a fully-charged beam rifle in his hands. They moved on, and found themselves at one of four platforms in an enormous chamber. On another platform in the distance to the left, Drones & Brutes engaged Combat Forms in battle. The Chief went back and grabbed the beam rifle, and then found a spot on the platform and started deciding who to kill first.

"Shall we let the Flood consume our holy city?" Truth broadcasted. "Turn _High Charity_ into another of their wretched hives? No enemy has ever withstood our might. The Flood, too, shall fail."

"I'll do what I can to slow the launch sequence," Cortana said, "but there's something inside the ship...a presence that's fighting back. For a Covenant construct, it's unusually formidable."

The Chief started by picking off several of the Drones, and then turned to some of the Combat Forms; thankfully, the red targeting reticle brightened whenever he targeted a vital spot, which made his work easier. He took out the Brutes last; one survived its hit, only to stumble from it and fall backwards over the edge. His scream echoed throughout the chamber. They stepped on the grav-bridge, which carried them across to the platform. They walked onto another gravity-bridge spot, and the platform ahead folded down and out from the wall, and the lift then whisked them across to it. As they approached the door, two infected marines came out, only to be blown away by the Spec-Ops Elite's shotgun. Another swarm of Drones came in from behind, and the Ranger & the Chief used their automatic weapons to clear them out. They turned and headed down through the door.

**Please, Make Yourself at Home**

The room was dark, lit scantily by a few glowing panels on the upper walls. The air was thick with Flood spores; the Ranger and the Chief checked that their helmets' filtration systems were working, and the Spec-Ops Elite pulled a filter out from his pouch and clipped it to his face. Three Combat Forms and a Carrier Form were in the room, none of them having noticed the newcomers yet. The Master Chief pulled out a plasma grenade and threw it; it stuck to the Carrier Form, and the explosion killed the Infection Forms within. The Combat Forms turned to face them, only for the Chief and the Spec-Ops to shoot out their Infection Forms, causing them to drop dead. They moved on, passing through a connecting hall and into another hallway, where a Brute Captain and two Jackals fought against four Combat Forms. The Captain used his Brute Shot's massive blade to cut one Combat Form down, and a bolt from another Combat Form's plasma rifles hit one of the Jackals in the face, killing it. As the three remaining Combat Forms closed in on the Brute, the Elite Ranger threw a frag grenade, killing the Flood and severely wounding the Brute. The trio moved in, executing the Brute and crushing the surprised Jackal's skull between the Chief's boot and the nearby wall.

They moved through, reaching another straight high-ceiling hallway. As they neared the next doorway, a pack of Flood came from behind them. A plasma grenade stuck to one of the Carrier Forms, and the resulting double detonation blew apart all but two of the six Combat Forms in the narrow space. The Chief used his assault rifle to gun down the other Carrier Form and its cargo, while the Spec-Ops Elite used his sword to slice through both Combat Forms in one wide swing, killing both Infection Forms within. They moved on, reaching a large, dark, rocky area.

"The Parasite did not defeat the Forerunners," Truth broadcasted, "and it shall not defeat us."

"**ARROGANT CREATURE**" the Gravemind suddenly cut in over the city-wide intercom. "_**YOUR**_** DEATHS SHALL BE INSTANTANEOUS, WHILE **_**WE **_**SHALL SUFFER THE PROGRESS OF INFINITUDE!**"

In the middle of the room, a teal-armored Brute Captain Ultra and two red-armored Skirmisher Majors exchanged fire with a force of Flood. A rocket from a Flood-held M19 Jackhammer hit the Brute dead-on, blowing him to bits. The Skirmisher pair, to their credit, stayed calm and dove for cover, sneaking out to take shots whenever the opportunity presented itself. They were overwhelmed and killed, but not before they had used their needle rifles to kill over half of the attacking Flood, including the one with the rocket launcher. The Spartan and the two Elites moved in, using their weapons to take out what remained of the Flood in the room. They moved into another hall, following it to another rocky room almost exactly like the previous one.

"The security systems in this part of the tower are particularly robust" Cortana reported.

"Can you get through them?" the Chief asked.

"Yes, but it might take a little more effort and time than normal. Nothing to worry about, though."

"Whosoever is gripped by fear, take heed: I am the Prophet of Truth, and I am not afraid. Noble Mercy is here at my side, his wise council ever in my ear."

"**WE EXIST TOGETHER NOW. TWO CORPSES… IN ONE GRAVE.**"

Ahead, a swarm of 12 Drones fired at a pack of Combat and Carrier Forms. A red-carapace Drone carrying a Brute plasma rifle and protected by an energy shield led the pack of silvery-blue-armored Drone Majors wielding needlers in fighting back the Flood; it fired at a Carrier Form, killing it and then using the BPR to kill the Infection Forms. The trio hung back, watching the fight. At the end, the Drone Commander and the four other surviving Drones flew out through the nearby broken window, leaving the chamber empty. The trio moved on, killing a Combat Form that the Drones had missed, and moved to another four-way connecting room, heading left. They came to an elevator and hit the panel, and it slowly rose them up. They reached a large room with six floating pillars (one of them now collapsed), with the tall, ornate doorway they needed to reach on the other side.

"Apparently," Cortana said, "these are the Prophet Hierarchs' private quarters; their inner sanctum."

**Sanctified**

"This crisis will not be the end of us" Truth broadcasted. "It is but one last hurdle before the Journey… and salvation."

Several Grunts patrolled nearby. The Spec-Ops Elite walked out, waving to grab their attention. Unfortunately…

"Heretics! Kill!"

They were Loyalist Grunts.

The Prophet-worshipping Grunt pack was quickly killed by the trio, who took cover as several Combat Forms leapt down from the side passages and charged the force guarding the door: two Brute Honor Guards, a Brute Captain, and two Jackals. As time was short, the trio rushed in, turning the fight into a three-way brawl. It was during this that they suffered a loss. The Elite Ranger took a hit from a Combat Form's overcharged plasma pistol shot, and the Brute Captain took the opportunity to fire several Spiker rounds through the Ranger's neck, shredding his trachea and tearing through his spine. The Spec-Ops avenged his fallen comrade, using his sword to behead the offending Brute as the Chief finished off the Flood. When the way was clear, they walked up to the door, which chimed and slid open. Inside was the Sanctum of the Hierarchs; shards of glass – the remnants of ravaged worlds – were built into the walls, and on the center table lay a plasma sword, a dead Elite laying next to it on the floor.

"Brute and Elite ships are engaging each other all around _High Charity_" Cortana reported. "I'm running out of options. I can't stall the launch sequence much longer! The next lift will take you up to the conduit; hurry!"

The pair followed a marker on their HUDs through a door and to a gravity lift. They stepped in, being carried up; through the windows they could see the massive ship in the center of the city as they ascended.

**Once More, With Feeling**

They reached a large, long area. Above, a 10-foot-thick beam ran straight out to the Forerunner ship. Brutes and Flood fought up ahead.

"I knew the Covenant was good at repurposing Forerunner technology," Cortana said, "but _this _is amazing. They've been using the Forerunner ship's reactors as an energy source for _High Charity_. The ship isn't so much launching as disengaging; uncoupling itself from the city's power grid."

"Now is the time of our unworlding" Truth broadcasted. "In a moment, we shall all become as gods. If you would falter, know this: one final effort is all that remains."

The two fought their way through, killing everything in their path. As they neared the final ramp, the Spec-Ops Elite took several bullets that tore through his torso. Behind them, a horde of Combat Forms charged. The Elite looked at the Chief, smiled, and triggered all of his remaining grenades. He rushed the Flood, and the resulting explosion killed them all. The Chief paused for a few seconds, then turned and ran to the energy conduit. He jumped in.

The Master Chief flew through the green energy beam, zipping through stabilizing rings as high speed. Ahead, the Forerunner ship's engines flared to life, and it slowly began to rise. As the energy beam cut off, the Chief soared through the closing door, skidding to a stop inside the ship.

"Chief, when you get to Earth… good luck."

"After I'm through with Truth…"

"Don't make a girl a promise… if you know you can't keep it."

Cortana stood, watching the 14-kilometer-tall vessel as it lifted off. It flew out the top of _High Charity_, passing the battling ships, and entered slipspace, headed for the Sol System.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	28. Great Journey

EDITED/UPDATED 2/9/2014

Here's the next chapter.

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

_**-CHAPTER START-**_

**Substance System**

**Installation 05**

**In a canyon outside the control center**

**November 4****th****, 2552**

Two Phantoms flew in, stopping near the two Sangheili – Arbiter Thel Vadamee and Head of Special Operations Rtas Vadumee – who were discussing their next move. One dropped off a Spectre, the turret manned by a red-armored Major, while the other dropship released two Special-Ops Elites and a red-armored Spartan. The three ran over to the two ranking officers, and they nodded in greeting. The Honor Guard's message had reached them already.

"What is that place?" the Arbiter asked, looking at a large structure across the water.

"Where the Councilors were meant to watch the consecration of the Icon" Vadumee replied. "The start of the Great Journey."

"…I must get inside."

"Then mount up, Arbiter. I know a way to break these doors."

**Your Ass, My Size-24 Hoof**

The Arbiter climbed into the Wraith's cockpit, while Teana climbed into its plasma turret. Vadumee took the driver's seat for the Spectre, while the Spec-Ops Elites sat in the passenger seats on either side. Both vehicles started up, hovering about half a foot off the ground, and started down the rocky path. Two enemy Ghosts drove out, and were scrapped by the Wraith's plasma mortar cannon. Ahead, two more sped out into view, accompanied by an enemy Wraith. The Elites' Wraith started strafing and firing, and four shells destroyed the enemy tank, while the turret and the Spectre dealt with the Ghosts. The two-vehicle convoy fought their way through about 10 Ghosts, until they reached an open area. Docked against a platform higher up was an old-model Scarab. In the distance to the left, a _Sanghelios_-class battlecruiser hovered over the ocean.

"_There_" Vadumee radioed. "_That Scarab's main gun will melt through the control room's doors. At the far end of the beach, there's a passage into the cliffs. It should take you up to the Scarab._"

A hostile Spirit flew into view on the left, firing its cannon (rapid-fire, Spirit Type-B) at the Wraith. The Wraith's thick front armor withstood the few shots it took before it started strafing back and forth to dodge, and two lucky shots from the mortar cannon ruined the dropship's gun. Amongst the rocks next to the Scarab, two enemy Wraiths and a half-dozen Brute foot soldiers guarded the door. A barrage of Wraith fire destroyed one of the enemy tanks, while the Spectre drove around and got behind the other, allowing the gunner to pour fire into the vulnerable rear section until it exploded. Teana used the turret to gun down most of the Brutes, with the fifth being killed by the Spectre and the last being road-killed by the Wraith.

"_The Jiralhanae control that battlecruiser, Arbiter_" Vadumee radioed. "_We'll remain here; make sure no reinforcements get in behind you. Then, we're going to take the ship back!_"

The Wraith drove up to the door, and the two got out and walked through it. They found two Hunters and a Spec-Ops Elite pointing their guns at them.

"The Arbiter?-!" The Spec-Ops exclaimed. "I thought he was dead! Hold your fire! The Lekgolo have come to our aid, Arbiter; they will fight by our side!"

"It'll be nice to be around Hunters that aren't trying to vaporize me, for once" Teana remarked.

"Don't be so sure, human" the Elite replied. "A small fraction of the Lekgolo have chosen to side with the Prophets during this schism. Around 14% of them, approximately."

"Well, as long as _most _of them aren't against us, we should be okay, right?"

"Indeed" the Arbiter said, and the two Hunters nodded.

The Arbiter readied his carbine, Teana switched Cross Mirage to Rifle Mode single-shot, and the Spec-Ops Elite readied his dual needlers. The Hunters led the way into the next hallway, the Elites and Spartan falling in behind them. The door to the next room opened, and the Hunters immediately crouched and raised their shields, Brute Shot grenades exploding against them harmlessly. Teana used her rifle to kill the Brute manning the plasma turret, and the Hunters then fired their cannons in beam configuration, sweeping the superheated green plasma across the Brutes lining the top edge, killing them before they could even scream. The team made their way up the ramp and into the next area, a large rocky locale with multiple Brutes and Jackals. After the Hunters sent two Brutes flying over the edge, Teana quickly searched out and killed the two Jackal Snipers in the area, and then moved forward, firing a rifle grenade to disable the plasma turret she almost ran into around the next corner, and then killing the stunned Brute. The Arbiter came up behind her, using his carbine to kill the two Brutes several feet ahead, and then to kill the few remaining Jackals in the area. The Hunters fired a pair of explosive bolts that ripped through the Brutes, killing all but two who were moderately wounded. The Elite blew both of these survivors to Hell with his needlers.

The group went up and through the next doorway, reaching a bridge. Teana took a peek out, and then immediately ducked back in.

"There's a hostile Phantom hovering just outside," she told them, "ready to roast us the moment we try to cross that bridge. It's a model with three guns, so we can't just fire a Hunter's cannon at the foreword turret and be done with it. There are also about five Jackals on the bridge."

"Was there anything we could use?" the Spec-Ops asked.

Teana looked out again, boosting her visor to 5x zoom.

"There's a fuel-rod gun leaning against the wall at the other side. Do any of you have active camouflage?"

"I'll go" the Arbiter said. He stepped out, engaged his cloaking device, and hurried across the bridge past the Jackals, reaching the other side just as the cloak wore off. He grabbed the fuel rod gun, finding it fully loaded, and leaned out firing two shots at the Phantom's port turret. He fired two more to destroy the starboard turret, but the nose turret got a lock and opened fire, forcing him into cover. One of the Hunters stepped out and fired an explosive bolt at the distracted turret, depriving the dropship of its last weapon, while the other Hunter fired a bolt to kill two of the Jackals and the Spec-Ops Elite threw a grenade to take out the other three. The Phantom departed, but not before releasing a swarm of eight Drones. Teana switched Mirage Rifle to full-auto and started shooting, taking down three, while the Arbiter pulled out his plasma rifle and killed two more. A sixth was vaporized by a Hunter's beam cannon, and the last two were perforated by pink needles that detonated and ripped them open. The Arbiter left the empty fuel-rod cannon on the ground, and the team moved on through some more hallways.

They reached a two-leveled room, with passageways leading to the other side of a wall. The Arbiter peeked through, and saw several Brutes guarding a few prison cells. In the cells were two Sangheili Councilors and an Mgalekgolo pair. He went back and gave this information to the others, and a plan was hatched. On his signal, Teana and the Arbiter fired at the cells holding the new Hunters and then the Councilors, while the Hunters blasted the Brute guards, and the Spec-Ops Elite mopped up. Another wave of Brutes ran into the room, but now the Councilors had joined the fight, igniting their plasma swords and cutting the beasts down effortlessly. The group of four Sangheili, four Mgalekgolo, and one teenage Spartan continued on, passing through several hallways.

"_Mine will do_" Tartarus' voice cut over the comm. "_Kill the others._"

"_Yes, High-Chieftain._"

The group then ran out onto the platform connecting to the Scarab, and their sudden appearance startled the Brutes enough for Johnson and his four marines to escape. Teana shot the Brute closest to Johnson through the head, and waved him and his men over. The marines were a bit dumbfounded by the identity of their rescuers, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, falling back to the entrance while adding their fire to the Elites' and Hunters'. Very quickly, the Brutes were dead.

"So," Johnson said, "how's about we save the explainin' for later, 'cause if we don't do somethin' quick, Mr. Mohawk's gonna activate this ring, and we're _all _gonna die."

"Tartarus has locked himself inside the control room" the Arbiter said.

"Well, we happen to have a key" he pointed at the Scarab.

"I've piloted an old-model Scarab before" one of the Councilors said. "I'll drive. You man the main cannon. You," he pointed to the Spec-Ops Elite, "control the anti-air turret."

"Yes, Councilor."

"Marines! Get onboard the Scarab! You'll be our defense against boarders. And two more of you new guys," Johnson continued as two friendly aircraft touched down on the platform, "grab those Banshees and give us some air support. He's gonna know we're comin'."

"I'll take one" Teana said.

"And I will pilot the other" the Arbiter said. He turned to the other Councilor. "Will you be alright here, Councilor?"

"Of course" the older Elite replied, gesturing to the four Hunters. "I'm not exactly unguarded." The Arbiter nodded, and he & Teana jogged over to the Banshees, climbing aboard.

**Backseat Driver**

In less than two minutes, the Scarab was ready to depart. It backed out of its parking spot and turned right, ready to start walking down the beach. The two Banshees were flying about, prepared to provide escort. Three hostile Wraiths a little ways down fired at the walker; the bolts did almost no damage at all to the Scarab's thick armor. The Scarab fired its main gun, vaporizing one tank from a direct hit, while the other one was close enough that the ambient heat roasted the driver inside.

"How do ya like bein' on the _receivin' end_ of an ass-kickin', ya damn stupid apes?"

The Banshee pair flew in, firing their fuel-rod cannons; four shots destroyed the third Wraith. The Scarab began to move forward, stepping over and around rocks. An enemy Spectre came out, firing its turret at the group, and was impaled from above by the Scarab's front left foot. Another came in and was blown to bits by the Banshees' bombs. Enemy Banshees flew in, and were taken out by the allied Banshees and by the Scarab's AA turret. The Scarab moved on through the canyons, its two escorts taking out turrets and Banshees, as well as a Revenant closer to the beach. At the edge of the water, two more Wraiths tried an ambush, only for the two Banshees to dive-bomb them, blasting them in the vulnerable pilot's hatches and taking them out. Just before it walked down a drop to reach the main beach, the Scarab fired its main gun, vaporizing an enemy Phantom up ahead. It then moved forward, crushing an enemy Ghost as it stepped out onto the beach. The massive walker oriented itself, aiming its gun.

"Stay clear of the door!" Johnson ordered the two Banshees. "Hey, bastards! Knock-knock!-!"

The Scarab fired, its gun melting through 100,000-year-old metal and stone. It fired again, and an explosion signaled the door's destruction. A friendly Phantom flew in, dropping troops to secure the beach, and the Banshee pair flew forward to the slagged doorway.

**Delusions and Grandeur**

They flew in, setting down on the outer platform, and walked through the melted corridor to a larger room. Several Brutes came in through the door ahead, and Teana & the Arbiter quickly went under the floor, finding a narrow passage beneath a glass floor, allowing them to see the Brutes, who were too stupid to look down. There were three Captains, two Honor Guards, and a Chieftain carrying a plasma launcher. They split up, walking to two small gaps in the floor behind the Brutes, and each threw a plasma grenade. The Honor Guard carrying a concussion rifle and the Captain carrying a brute shot were killed, and the two heroes immediately leapt out, Teana's Mirage Longsword and the Arbiter's plasma sword drawn.

"Do not let them enter the chamber!" the Chieftain bellowed. "The High-Chieftain must complete his holy work!"

The Brutes put up a valiant effort, but were sorely outmatched. A Captain was the last to fall, the Arbiter's sword cleaving him in half from left shoulder to right hip. The pair moved on, passing through a slightly-curved hallway.

**-XXX-**

"Come human, it is easy" Tartarus said, holding Miranda in one hand and the Index in the other. "Take the Icon in your hands…" he placed the Index in her grasp and then shoved her into the console. "…and do as you are told!"

"Please, use caution!" Guilty Spark implored from under the arm of a nearby Brute Captain. "This Reclaimer is delicate!"

"One more word, Oracle," Tartarus glared at the droid, "and I'll rip your eye from its socket!"

He turned to Miranda as she grunted in pain from his grip tightening. "Which is _nothing _compared to what I'll do to _you_…"

"Tartarus, stop!"

"That voice …Impossible"

"Put down the Icon."

The Brutes turned, finding the Arbiter standing there, carbine lowered.

"Put it down?" Tartarus said. "And disobey the Hierarchs?"

"There are things about Halo… that even the Hierarchs do not understand…"

The four other Brutes growled and started forward, but Tartarus held out his hand, and they stopped.

"Take care, Arbiter" he said. "What you say is heresy."

"Is it, now? Oracle, what is Halo's purpose?"

"Collectively, the seven-"

Guilty Spark was cut off as Tartarus grabbed him, staring him eyes-to-eye. "Not another word!"

"Please…" a young female voice said. The Brutes looked, seeing a red-armored Spartan and a dark-skinned marine, both of them pointing beam rifles (well, a beam rifle and Cross Mirage Sniper Mode). "Release the little guy."

The Brutes growled and started forward again.

"If you wanna keep your grey matter inside your skull," Johnson said, "then tell those boys to back off!"

Tartarus was incensed, but called his Brutes off.

"Go ahead" Johnson told the Arbiter.

"The Sacred Rings… what are they?"

"Weapons of last resort," Spark replied, "built by the Forerunners to eliminate potential Flood hosts, thereby rendering the parasite harmless."

"And those who made the Rings? What happened to the Forerunners?"

"After a 300-year war in which they suffered near-total losses and exhausted every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sapient life within three radii of the galactic center, died… as planned. …Would you… like to see the relevant data?"

The Arbiter lowered his head, his suspicions confirmed true. "Tartarus…" sadness crept into his voice. "The Prophets have betrayed us…"

Tartarus looked at the Monitor in his hand… and then chucked him at Johnson, knocking him into Teana, sending them both to the floor.

"No, Arbiter!" he shouted, as he grabbed Miranda's hand and forced it to place the Index into the terminal. "The Great Journey has begun," he readied his hammer as a powerful energy shield that looked like white flames surrounded him, "and the Jiralhanae, not the Sangheili, shall be the Prophets' escort!"

The platform surrounding the central core split, becoming three separate platforms, hovering over each other. A brilliant white shaft of light formed in the center. The two humans had gotten to their feet, and killed the Brutes to the immediate left and right of Tartarus, while two Zealots charged in and cut down the other two. Tartarus leapt down onto the platform, and the Elites (Arbiter, two Zealots, and two Generals) & Teana followed him, the latter switching Mirage to Shotgun Mode. A Zealot swung his sword, but it bounced off of Tartarus' mega-shield. Tartarus turned around, met the Sangheili's shocked face with a smug smirk, and swung his hammer, killing the Zealot instantly.

"Charging sequence initiated" Guilty Spark reported. "Primary generators coming online."

"Shut them down!" Keyes ordered.

"Apology: protocol does not allow me to interfere with any aspect of this sequence."

"Then how do I stop it?"

"Well, it will take some time to go over the proper procedures…"

"Quit stalling!"

"Under more controlled circumstances, I would suggest the Reclaimer simply remove the Index."

"That's it? Johnson, I'm on it!"

"Hang tight, ma'am! Not until that Brute is dead!"

As an Elite General fell, three beam rifle shots hit Tartarus in rapid succession, briefly knocking out his shields. The Arbiter took his chance, firing his carbine. Most missed, but two shots tore through Tartarus' side just before his shield came back up.

"A lucky hit" he muttered. "You'll not have another!"

He leapt, meaning to smash the Arbiter into the ground. The Arbiter rolled out of the way, the shockwave from the impact nearby draining his shields by half. Tartarus moved to pursue him, but was rocked forward as Teana blasted him in the back with Mirage Shotgun. He growled and turned to face the human. "Puny whelp! I'll mount your helmet on my wall!"

"Go ahead and try it!" she replied. "If I go down, I'm making sure you'll be too crippled to even lift my helmet!"

He roared and charged her, and she ducked under a hammer swing, rolling away and firing twice more. Johnson hit the Brute again, and a shotgun blast tore through Tartarus' left shoulder. He roared in pain and fury, and swung again, his attack slower due to his injury. The Arbiter dashed in and blocked the strike with his plasma sword, catching the hammer just below the head. The superheated blade began to burn through the shaft of the hammer, and Tartarus quickly jumped away, noticing that the hammer had been cut almost halfway through. All around them, Brutes and Elites fought to the death.

"Secondary generators charging" Spark reported. "All systems are performing well within operational parameters."

"You're sure that you can't stop the sequence?" Keyes asked.

"Reclaimer, please understand that interrupting the wave generation process will severely damage this installation."

"Give me a direct answer!"

"I am but a Monitor. You Reclaimers are free to do as you like."

Tartarus charged again, and the two heroes barely avoided a brutal death. Tartarus laughed at them. "What's the matter?" he taunted. "Scared to die because you know the Gods will show no mercy to heretics such as you?"

The battle continued for several more minutes as Tartarus forced them into a location where Johnson's rifle could not hit him. Teana could feel the desperation of her situation growing by the second, as the enraged Alpha-Chieftain continued his relentless attack. Despite his rage and ferocity, each attack he made was skillful and calculated, a sign of his decades of experience. What's more, the bright, wavering energy shield that surrounded him was slightly difficult to look directly at, hampering Teana's ability to counter him.

Then, however, as Tartarus cornered the young Spartan and came at her again, something strange happened. In the midst of her desperation and rising panic, Teana felt as something 'happened to' her eyes. Suddenly, her vision's clarity went way up, and Tartarus' motions looked to almost slow a bit, becoming a little easier to predict. This enabled her to narrowly dodge his ensuing attacks long enough for the Arbiter to come to her aid, hitting Tartarus with a flying kick that knocked him away. They double-teamed the Chieftain again, aided by Teana's odd new visual acuity, forcing him back.

Tartarus roared and slammed his hammer down on the ground in the Arbiter's direction, blasting the Sangheili back with a gravitic shockwave. The Alpha-Chieftain then lunged forward suddenly, knocking Teana to the ground. He placed his foot on her, pinning her to the ground, and raised his hammer. He was about to strike, when three beam rifle shots hit him. He looked back, and saw Johnson hanging from a rope and holding his rifle one-handed. The Arbiter leapt to his feet and charged, plasma sword swinging. Tartarus brought his hammer up to block.

The blade chopped through the weak point, kept going, and sliced through Tartarus' neck, severing his head from its shoulders. As the head fell, a look of shock frozen on its face, The Arbiter brought his blade up and sliced it in half vertically. The two halves hit the ground, signifying the end of Jiralhanae High-Chieftain Tartarus. The Arbiter disengaged his plasma sword, and then held out a hand and helped Teana to her feet. "…Thank you."

Seeing that the last obstacle had fallen, Miranda leapt into action. She jumped aboard a turning portion of the platform, ducked underneath a low-hanging one coming the opposite way, and jumped down onto the central platform. She ran up to the Index and snatched it out of the air. The beam of light disappeared, and the entire Halo began to shake. From the top of the building, a ball of light formed and shot up into the sky. It impacted a massive sphere of gathering energy in the center of the ring, which then changed color and pulsed out, dissipating harmlessly.

Back in the control room, which had now gone dark, Keyes stood in front of a small hologram. Teana walked up to her side, while Johnson rode Spark down, holding on until he was a few feet off the ground, then dropping to the floor. Keyes turned to the Monitor.

"What is that?" she asked.

"A beacon" Spark replied.

"What's it doing?"

"Communicating at super-luminal speeds, with a frequency of-"

"Communicating with what?"

"The other installations"

"Show me"

"Failsafe protocol" he explained, as the hologram expanded to show seven rings, one of them highlighted in red with text pointing to it – 04. "In the event of unexpected shutdown, the entire system will move to stand-by status. All remaining platforms are now ready for remote activation."

"Remote activation? From here?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Listen, Tinkerbell" Johnson pulled his pistol. "Don't make me-"

"Then where?" Keyes cut in, gently pushing Johnson's weapon arm down. "Where would someone go to activate the other rings?"

Guilty Spark drew back, surprised that such a question needed asking. "Why, the Ark, of course."

"And where, Oracle," the Arbiter walked up, "is that?"

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Zeta Doradus System**

**Core room of Forerunner construct "Onyx"**

**November 5****th****, 2552**

The team congregated at the top of the structure, their backs to the portal which was almost closed. In the center, Dr. Halsey sat watching over the body of Dante, waiting until the last moment to slip through. All around the structure were hundreds of Brutes, thousands of Loyalist Grunts, Jackals, & Skirmishers, and over a dozen Loyalist Hunters. They had come here filled with blood-lust, after failing to catch the Sangheili ship they'd been pursuing, and from having heard of the loss of High-Chieftain Terakus, his supercarrier _Darkest Night _obliterated by a human "Nova" bomb that also destroyed nearly three-quarters of Terakus' fleet and devastated the colony _Vicious Exhilaration_. And in high orbit, their brothers fought both the human ships and the planet's Sentinels. But now was a chance to pass through a doorway to the Gods' offerings. And these humans stood in their way.

A Hunter had managed to get up the slope and was behind Kelly, preparing to kill her… when several green bolts of energy smacked into its chest, knocking it backward to tumble down the stairs. Kelly looked, and saw Linda standing in the center of a glowing green circle with various arcane symbols in it. Six Brutes made it to the top, and Linda held out her hand and spoke:

"Crossfire Shot"

Multiple green spheres of energy sprang into existence and flew outward, smacking into the Brutes' faces and knocking them off the structure. Over the next few minutes, they continued to hold off the foes, until finally it was time. Dr. Halsey, Holly, the pods holding Team Katana, and Dante's body were the first through the portal, followed by Will & Kelly, then Mendez, Tom, & Kurt, and then Lucy, Olivia, Ash, and Fred. Linda was the last through, stepping through the portal seconds before it closed. The Brutes reached the top and roared in fury. The Chieftain in command was about to try smashing it open somehow, when he spotted two objects tied together sitting in the middle. He barely had time to recognize that he was looking at two human thermonuclear weapons before they blew up in his face.

On the other side of the portal, the group found themselves inside a Micro-Dyson Sphere roughly 300 million kilometers across. After about half an hour exploring, something came out of slipspace a few hundred meters over their heads.

"Is that… Teana's ship?" Linda asked.

"I believe so" Dr. Halsey replied.

The _Starshot _then activated a gravity lift, drawing the lot of them up into it. After two hours of going over data, and with Team Katana brought out of hibernation, the _Starshot _exited the MD Sphere, Dr. Halsey at the helm.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Installation 05**

**Forerunner Structure near Sangheili/Human Base Camp**

**Three Hours Later**

They were preparing to leave soon. Most of the Sangheili fleet would remain in the system for the moment, enacting a quarantine of Installation 05 and the Flood-controlled _High Charity_. 10 ships, however, would head for Earth, bringing Cmdr. Keyes, Johnson, Teana, and the rest of the humans, along with the Arbiter. Vadumee would remain to oversee the quarantine until further notice, while Ship-Master Mantakree would bring news and information to High Admiral Wattinree. The truth of the Halos had been revealed to all present, along with the conjecture regarding Truth's motives. The Sangheili and those who followed them had sworn solemn vengeance against Truth… as well as penance toward and assistance to humanity.

Teana, with a curious 343 Guilty Spark following, headed towards a well-polished piece of Forerunner metal, which was reflective enough to act as a mirror. Noticing that her eyesight was still in that strange enhanced state it had entered during the fight against Tartarus, she removed her helmet to get a good look at them in the 'mirror', and gasped when she saw them.

Her irises were a brilliant red, with the pupil shrunken to a small spot in the center. Two black comma-like marks surrounded each pupil, as if to make a spinning wheel. She released the almost-imperceptibly-small flow of energy to her eyes, and they returned to their normal blue. A quick focus, and they transformed again. Super-powered eyes that could be turned on and off, and required an inconsequential use of energy with an almost-imperceptible drain on her reserves. …Awesome. She startled as a narrow bluish light emerged from Guilty Spark's eye, scanning her.

"According to analysis of your genetic code," Spark explained, "your optic ability was inherited from your mother."

Teana paused. She had difficulty remembering her parents, as they had been murdered when she was only 4 years old. Her brother, then 10, had raised her for the next six years until he, too, was killed. She could faintly remember her mother: red-orange hair slightly darker than her own, and grayish-blue eyes.

Any further thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of her long-missing ship, popping out of slipspace 400 meters above the nearby base. She ran back to the base, Spark flying on ahead of her.

"An _M_-class Destroyer!" he exclaimed. "What a surprise to see one! Is that your ship that you mentioned previously, Reclaimer?"

"Yes"

"It seems that the VI housed in it has chosen to return to you."

"Looks that way"

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

After over two hours of explanations and story-trading, the fleet of 11 ships entered slipspace, heading for the Sol System, to arrive there eight days later. The rest of the Sangheili Fleet remained here, enforcing quarantine. Deep inside _High Charity_, a massive and ancient presence extended his influence with the mega-structure, working to turn it into an extension of himself.

"**SILENCE FILLS THE EMPTY GRAVE, NOW THAT I HAVE GONE. BUT MY MIND IS NOT AT REST, FOR QUESTIONS LINGER ON. I WILL ASK… AND ****_YOU _****WILL ANSWER.**"

Cortana raised a hand, and a tentacle retreated from her. "Alright. Shoot."

**-****_DATA_****-**

**Current Covenant Loyalist Naval Strength: **240 ships (166 attacking Earth)

**Current Sangheili Alliance Naval Strength: **480 ships (315 enforcing quarantine)

**Separatist Numbers (percent of total species population):**

Sangheili/Elites – 87% (remaining human-haters either killed by the Flood on _High Charity_, or gone to ground elsewhere)

Unggoy/Grunts – 65% (of the 35% who serve the Loyalists, half only do so out of fear)

Lekgolo/Hunters – 86%

Kig-Yar/Jackals & Skirmishers – 15% (of the Loyalists, 78% are open to peace if they lose but survive)

Yanme'e/Drones – 5%

Jiralhanae/Brutes – 2%

San Shyuum/Prophets – 1.5%

Huragok/Engineers – 80% (20% Loyalists are being forced to be so)

**Alliance Fleet en route to Earth:**

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Mercy & Reconciliation _(flagship; Arbiter's ship)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Pious Inquisitor_

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Stars' Wind_

_Resilience_-class Light Carrier _Double Star_

_Yerno_-class Cruiser _Light of Absolution_

_Yerno_-class Cruiser _Gods' Dawn_

_Purity_-class Destroyer _Shining Ember_

_Purity_-class Destroyer _Fire's Light_

_Purity_-class Destroyer _Silent Sword_

_Piety_-class Frigate _Righter of Wrongs_

_M_-class Destroyer _Starshot_

**_-CHAPTER END-_**

Remember, folks: this is but the first book of a multi-universal crossover. Teana's ability will play a bigger part in stories to come, but not necessarily in this one.


	29. Welcome to the Jungle

Here's Chapter 28. _Halo 3_

It seems I made a mistake in calling some of the Brutes Captains. Some were Captain-Majors or Captain-Ultras. Specifically, among the pointy helmets: deep blue = Captain, gold = Captain-Major, teal-blue = Captain-Ultra. With those with not-pointy helmets that don't cover everything: teal-blue = Brute Minor, dark blue = Major, vibrant blue = Ultra. Go to Halopedia to find pictures of all these different armor types.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Earth**

**East African Protectorate**

**November 17****th****, 2552**

**0400 local time**

"They let me pick. Did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted."

A night sky over a quiet jungle, lit by thousands of stars.

"You know me. I did my research; watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be."

One of the stars brightened, cutting a path across the sky and growing brighter by the second.

"Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave; a natural leader. But you had something they didn't; something no-one saw but me."

A second, smaller fireball broke off from the large one, changing course and heading toward the jungle.

"Can you guess? …Luck."

The smaller fireball flew in and crashed, bouncing twice before coming to a stop. Birds, woken from their slumber, took flight in terror, as a few tiny fires burned in isolated shrubs before consuming their available solid fuel, dying as there was nothing flammable close enough to jump over to.

"…Was I wrong?"

**FOUR HOURS LATER**

Six marines gathered around a fallen figure, the green-armored man's body frozen in a bracing position.

"This isn't good"

"Damn. How far did he fall?"

"Two kilometers, easy"

"Stay sharp" the leader – Sergeant-Major Avery Johnson – ordered, turning away from the detached door that the Master Chief had used to sky-surf down to Earth. He walked over to his unconscious friend. A marine holding a datapad knelt next to the Spartan, as the others took up defensive position around the Spartan.

"Corpsman?" Johnson asked the man.

"His armor's locked up" the Corpsman replied. "Gel layer _could _have taken most of the impact…"

He hit a button on the datapad, and the Chief's armor un-locked, his arms falling limp.

"I don't know, Sergeant-Major…"

Johnson leaned down, looking into the Chief's visor. He sighed, exhaling smoke from his cigar. He reached back and pulled Cortana's chip from the back of the Chief's helmet and stood up.

"Radio for VTOL" he ordered. "Heavy lift gear. We're not leavin' him here."

"Yeah. You're not."

Johnson turned, smiled, and helped the Spartan to his feet.

"Crazy fool" he said with a smile. "Why do you always jump? One of these days, you're gonna land on somethin' as stubborn as you are. And I don't do bits and pieces…"

The Chief grabbed the data-chip from Johnson, holding it up and gazing at it.

"Where is she, Chief?" the NCO asked. "Where's Cortana?"

"_Don't make a girl a promise… if you know you can't keep it…_"

"She stayed behind."

He slotted the empty chip into the back of his helmet, and Johnson nodded before turning to the medical trooper. "Corpsman?"

The man walked up, looking at the data-pad and then having John perform a few movements and such.

"Everything checks out, sir" he said.

"Kick off the trainin' wheels, Corpsman. He's good to go."

Just then, grass nearby flattened seemingly by itself. The Chief readied his pistol, but lowered it when the Arbiter faded into view.

"We must go" he said. "The Brutes have our scent."

"Then they must love the smell of badass" Johnson remarked, grabbing the 'pack mule' marine's assault rifle and 10 clips for it and handing them to the Master Chief.

"First Squad, you're my scouts" Johnson said. "Move out, quiet as you can."

**Walk It Off**

The team moved forward, passing the door from the Forerunner ship, and headed out, walking through the rocks and foliage.

"Bravo Team, this is Johnson. We got 'im. Fall back to the extraction point, over."

"Roger that" Teana's voice replied. "Noble-7 out"

They moved past a pond, and a howl split the air.

"That sounded close" one marine said.

"Yeah" another replied. "_Too _close…"

"Johnson, be advised" Teana radioed. "Hostiles are on the move. Got eyes on a Brute pack, over."

"Copy that. We'll keep our eyes open."

The team continued, reaching a slightly more open area. As they neared it, a hostile Phantom flew leisurely overhead, and the group took cover.

"We stick together and we're gonna get spotted" Johnson said. "We'll split up, and meet back at the LZ. Chief, go with the Arbiter, head toward the river. Second Squad, you're with me. Keep an eye out for Bravo Team, Chief. If the Brutes _do _have our scent, those guys may have some trouble."

They split, with First Squad going with the two larger heroes. They went right, hiding behind a large fallen tree.

"Up ahead" a marine whispered. "Single Brute, plus backup"

"Spread out, you whelps!" the gold-armored Brute ordered his Grunts. "Find them!"

The Arbiter and a marine holding a BR55 rifle focused fire on the Captain-Major, fatally wounding him. The Chief and the other marines then used their assault rifles to clear out the panicking Grunts.

"The Prophets are deluded liars," the Arbiter said to the dying Brute, "and you are fools to do their bidding!"

They moved ahead, the Chief going right and coming out on a mossy ledge overlooking a pond about 12 feet below, where a Phantom had just dropped off another gold-armored Brute and six Grunts. A frag grenade killed the Grunts and near-completely drained the Brute's shields. A pistol shot depleted the shields, causing the armor to fall off, and another pistol bullet killed the beast. They jumped down and went left, finding two more Captain Brutes – deep-blue-armored – and around eight Grunts. The hostiles went down quick, but with more difficulty than expected.

"These Brutes are tough" a marine said.

"The Grunts ain't no slouches, either" another replied.

"Many of the Grunts serve the Prophets and Brutes out of fear" the Arbiter explained. "When we win this war, many of them will likely turn to our side."

They moved into a cave marked by a strobing light-stick. Halfway through, they found Teana.

"Where's the rest of your squad?" the Chief asked her.

"We got separated" she replied. "They were alive last time I heard from them, but they sounded like they were in trouble. …You kinda missed the party these last few days, Chief. We've been fightin' Brutes all over Africa. The local wildlife helped us out a bit at some points, too."

"Yeah" a marine said wistfully. "I recently got to see a chimpanzee beat a Jackal to death. Now I can die happy."

"How are the rest of the Spartans?"

"Kicking ass and taking names, as usual. Fred says hello."

The team moved through the cave, reaching a larger area. "Sleepers" one marine whispered as he pointed out the snoozing Grunts littering the area. "Take 'em out, nice and quiet."

The team quietly moved through, sneaking through the shadows and carefully killing the sleeping Grunts. When they had cleared out most of them, they moved across the small river and headed up and around the rocks. Unfortunately, they were at this point spotted by a trio of Skirmishers, who sounded the alarm. Grunts and Jackals poured out, and Brutes weren't far behind. The team managed to fight their way through, but two of the four marines were killed in the fight.

"Pelicans are en route," Johnson radioed, "but I can't raise Bravo. If you find 'em, get 'em to the extraction point."

The team continued on, approaching a 'corner' to the next area.

"Tell me its location" a deep voice ordered. They rounded the corner, seeing a Brute Captain-Ultra standing atop a log, holding a marine up by the throat. "Reynolds…" Teana identified the Sergeant.

"Kiss… my… ass…" was Reynolds' only response. Before the Brute could kill him, several carbine bolts impacted the side of its skull, punching through the shields & helmet and out through the other side. The Brute collapsed dead, and Sgt. Reynolds jumped down, grabbing an assault rifle off the ground.

"Brute Chieftain… Phantom…" he said. "Pinned us down… killed my men."

The group headed up the slope and across the log, Teana launching a rifle grenade to kill a pair of Jackals. The Chief went left, finding several dead marines, and picked up a battle rifle and four extra magazines for it, as well as three frag grenades. They moved through, killing several Grunts and entering another cave. As they dropped down a ledge, the Chief suddenly felt as if time had slowed. A flashing blue image – a face – appeared in his helmet display… no, not in his display; in his actual eyesight.

"Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission?" Cortana's echoing voice said. "Could you watch me die?"

The vision faded, and the Chief shook his head. The rest of the squad turned to look at him.

"Sir, you okay?" a marine asked.

"Your vitals just pinged KIA for about half a second" another said.

"…I'm fine. Let's keep moving."

That wasn't a transmission. Had Cortana somehow contacted him telepathically? If so, why say something so random? Had something happened to her? Was it a call for help? The Chief shook his head again and put aside the thoughts for now. Once he was through with Truth, he would save her.

**Charlie Foxtrot**

"Chief," Johnson radioed, "Pelicans are at the river. We got company, so hustle up!"

They ran through the rocks, soon reaching a river substation next to a raging river. The two Pelicans hovered above the churning waters, their troop-mounted machineguns to shred hostile Grunts.

"Grenades!" the Arbiter ordered. "Blow them to bits!"

The marines complied, and three frag grenades flew through the air, landing at the feet of the enemy and blowing more Grunts and Jackals away.

"Hold on" one of the pilots said. "Got a contact… Banshees! Fast and low!"

"Break off! Now!" the other pilot shouted.

Two enemy aircraft flew in, firing their fuel-rod cannons. The shots impacted Echo-27, destroying its starboard engines and knocking it into Echo-51.

"Lost a thruster! Hang on!" E51's pilot said over the radio.

"Get a hold of her!" Johnson, aboard Echo-51, ordered.

"Negative! We're goin' down!"

Echo-51 made a futile attempt to gain altitude, but skimmed the top of a cliff and flipped over it, crashing out of sight. Echo-27 attempted to ascend as well, but was more heavily damaged than E51, and plunged into the river behind the dam, dooming its occupants to drowning. The force of two Spartans, a Sangheili, and three marines continued, working their way across and up a slope, killing two more Jackals, to the top of the substation. Several Brutes and Grunts awaited them, and were met with grenades and precision fire. Grunts fell quickly, and Brutes gradually joined them. A hostile Phantom flew in and dropped off another, large group of Brutes & Grunts, including three gold-armored Captains carrying Brute Shots. The squad was pinned down, one marine's head being blown apart by a direct hit from a brute shot grenade. Suddenly, a green-plated Phantom flew in and opened fire on the Covenant, its three plasma guns tearing the hostiles apart.

"Much thanks for the timely assist, brother" the Arbiter radioed the pilot.

"You are most welcome, Arbiter" the Elite pilot replied. "However, I cannot withdraw you and your squad at this time, nor can I stay on station to escort you to pick-up. I have several wounded aboard, and must get them to base immediately. Good luck, sir."

"Fly safe, pilot."

The friendly Phantom flew away, and the Arbiter turned to the rest of the squad. "The Banshees will return soon. We must get back into the jungle before they do so!"

They passed through the rocks and went back into the trees, killing a Jackal straggler on the way.

"Chief. Can ya hear me?" Johnson's voice came over the comm., partially obscured by static. "My bird's down; half a klick downriver from your position."

"Skirmishers, on the ridge and in the trees" Sgt. Reynolds said. "It looks like they've got carbines and needle rifles."

Teana was the first to spot and kill a Skirmisher hidden in the trees, the body falling to the ground alongside its carbine. The Chief and the Arbiter each killed two more Skirmishers perched on the rocks high up ahead. The team of five continued through, Teana grabbing a needle rifle and four clips for it. They soon reached a clearing, where Johnson and three other marines were running across a rock bridge while firing at pursuing Covenant forces.

"Come on, you dumb apes!" Johnson taunted. "If you want breakfast, you gotta catch it!"

One of the marines threw a frag grenade, killing the Brute and two Jackals that were chasing them. Johnson and his men escaped through a cave up ahead. The Chief's team then ran in, picking off the marksmen and then killing several Grunts and Jackals. A Phantom hovered nearby, with a Brute Chieftain standing in it. Several Grunts disembarked from it and charged the humans and Sangheili, and the Phantom then flew off to the left. Two frag grenades cleared the path, and the team reached the fallen Pelican, which had flipped upside-down, scattering weapons and ammo everywhere. The team stocked up, the Chief grabbing an SRS99D sniper rifle and four magazines for it. The Pelican's radio was still functional.

"Echo-51, this is Crow's Nest" a man's voice came over it. "Echo-51, please respond. …Hocus, 51 is down. Divert for emergency evac, over."

The team headed up and over the bridge, killing two Brute Minors and three orange-shielded Jackals and then heading through the cave. They reached a spot overlooking a dam.

**Quid Pro Quo**

"They're baiting a trap for us" the Arbiter said, pointing to where Johnson was wrestled into a building by a Brute Chieftain.

"So what should we do?" Teana asked.

"Spring it" the Master Chief replied.

The Chief then readied his sniper rifle and aimed at the Chieftain. Two shots depleted its shields and blew off its helmet, but the beast then activated an Overshield that the third shot bounced off of harmlessly, and then ran into cover. The Chief then used his sniper rifle to pick off three Brute Captain-Ultras, while Teana used Mirage Rifle to kill the few enemy snipers/marksmen in the area, and the Arbiter & the two marines headed down the slope to the right, using their weapons to kill many of the Grunts & Jackals and a few Brutes. The Arbiter turned his dual plasma rifles on a Brute Captain, depleting its shields and burning through its flesh until it keeled over dead. He then switched to his carbine and entered the small structure at the top of a short stairway, and started picking off Brutes & Grunts on the bridge. The Chieftain charged out, hammer at the ready, but was killed by another sniper shot from the Chief. The two Spartans then leapt down and ran to join the rest of the squad in clearing out the bridge. They made their way across, leaving bodies in their wake, and fought through another Grunt-filled area until they reached the small building where Johnson and the three other survivors were trapped behind a stasis wall.

"This isn't as fun as it looks" Johnson snarked. "Cut the power."

John walked up and hit the button on the floating contraption, which fell to the floor as the field disengaged.

"We're even," Johnson said, "so long as we're only countin' today. Kilo-23, what's your ETA?"

"Imminent, Sergeant-Major" replied 'Hocus'. "Find some cover; gotta clear a path."

"Roger that, Hocus. Friendly gunship comin' in hot! Grab somethin' to shoot with, boys!"

Johnson grabbed a carbine, while the three marines grabbed needlers. The two Spartans, the Arbiter, Reynolds, and the fourth marine set up a defensive position inside the structure, as two enemy Phantoms flew into the area, dropping off about two dozen enemy troops. The Chief used his sniper rifle to kill higher-ranked Brutes until he'd used up all the ammo for it, and then switched to his battle rifle, helping the Arbiter, Johnson, and Teana pick off foes at a distance while the marines gunned down anything that got close. After several minutes, a Pelican flew into the clearing.

"Everyone cover your heads; this is gonna be big and loud!"

The Pelican fired two barrages of rockets into the rear of the first Phantom, which began to fall out of the sky only to explode before it could hit the ground.

"Scratch one Phantom!"

Three more rocket barrages to the front of the second Phantom brought it down in a flash of blue light.

"Scratch two!"

The Pelican then turned to face the surviving enemy infantry. A minigun unfolded from its chin, spun up, and opened fire at 3,500 rounds per minute, reducing the Covenant soldiers to bloody smears and chunks on the concrete. The Pelican then flew forward, hovering next to the bridge. The squad of nine headed over and climbed aboard. As Johnson stepped on, he patted the Chief on the shoulder and then walked further in. The dropship lifted off, heading back to base.

Two marines, one with binoculars and the other with a man-portable SAM launcher, watched the dropship approach.

"IFF confirmed" the lookout radioed to base. "Contact is Pelican dropship Kilo-23, over."

"Roger that" control replied. "What's the word, Kilo-23?"

"Sierra-117 onboard; request priority clearance, over."

"Deck's yours. Come on down."

The Pelican descended through a hole in the tree canopy, heading down into Crow's Nest Base's main hangar.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	30. Crow's Nest

Here's Chapter 29. And yes, I consider Truth's _Halo 2 _voice to be his canon voice.

Also, factoid time on the Drones' ranking system (yes, they have one), in order of increasing rank: Green, Blue, Silver, Gold, Red

Lastly, Foehammer's got a new Pelican, but she has her old designation: Echo-419.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Earth**

**Crow's Nest Base, 36 kilometers from Mombasa**

**November 17****th****, 2552**

**1000 hours**

"Sorry for the tight squeeze" the dock overseer said to Hocus, before turning to his partner. "Tell the Commander her ace is in the hole."

Humans, Sangheili, and Separatist Unggoy stopped to watch as the Pelican set down, and several figures stepped out.

"Hey…" a marine with a bandaged stomach pointed to another with a broken arm. "Check it out."

The man with the broken arm looked. "No way! Spartans!"

"For real?" a third marine with bandaged eyes said. "You'd better not be fucking with me."

"No man, they're here! We're gonna be alright!"

Commander Miranda Keyes walked up to the group. "Where'd you find him?" she asked Johnson.

"Nappin', out back" Johnson replied.

"I'll bet. It's good to see you, Chief"

"Likewise, ma'am". They shook hands.

"Let's get you up to speed. Follow me to the command room. Truth's fleet was 166 ships strong. Fortunately, the Brutes are kinda tactically inept compared to us and the Sangheili, and we had 295 Orbital Super-MACs and the entirety of our remaining Navy waiting for them. When our group of 10 Elite-controlled ships and Teana's Forerunner-made destroyer joined up, the battle became even more lopsided. All the same, the Covenant Loyalist fleet didn't go without a fight; we've lost 160 of our orbital defense platforms and all but 80 of our 200 remaining warships, and the Elites lost two of their destroyers and one of their battlecruisers. The Covenant destroyed every ODP over northern Africa and southern Europe, and then 30 of them retreated to hide in the outer sector of the Sol System, with 60 of our vessels and four of the Sangheili's giving chase, while their remaining ships – 23 cruisers of various types, three assault carriers, and Truth's Forerunner dreadnaught – set up shop in and around the ruins of New Mombasa, and killed anyone and everyone they could find in the area. Then, they started digging."

They passed through hallways laden with injured soldiers of different species, and reached the command room, where humans and Sangheili manned various consoles, and an Mgalekgolo pair – Cmdr. Keyes' bodyguards – stood waiting. All Separatist Grunts, and the Hunter pair, had a circular symbol with a human hand and a Sangheili hand clasped somewhere on their armor, and the Chief's FOF system had them all shown as friendlies.

"What about Halo-05?" the Chief asked.

"We stopped it," Keyes replied, "but only temporarily. Now, the Prophet of Truth is looking for something called 'The Ark', where he'll be able to fire _all _of the rings. If he succeeds…"

"We're all dead".

"Ma'am," a marine manning the communication console said, "I have Lord Hood."

"Patch him through" she ordered, and the main screen showed the Fleet Admiral on the bridge of the _Marathon_-class cruiser _Ars Arcanum_.

"Good news, Commander Keyes?" he asked.

"As good as it gets, sir" she replied, gesturing at the Master Chief.

"Hm. So I see. What's your status, son?"

"Green, sir" the Chief replied.

"Glad to hear it. The Commander and Spartans 104 & 051 came up with a good plan, but without you we weren't sure we could pull it off."

"Truth's ships are clustered above the excavation site," Keyes explained, "and his infantry have deployed anti-aircraft batteries around the perimeter. But, it we neutralize one of the batteries, punch a hole in Truth's defenses…"

"I'll initiate a low-level strike," Hood continued, "hit him right where it hurts. I can only spare a handful of ships for this, Master Chief. It's a big risk, but I'm confident you-"

The screen abruptly went dark, as did all lights in the base.

"Ah hell, not _again_" a technician said.

"Emergency generators!" Keyes ordered.

"Shielding failed" another technician reported. "They're down and charging."

"As soon as they're up, reestablish contact with Lord Hood. Let him know-"

"You are, all of you, vermin."

Everyone turned to look at the screen, to see the Prophet of Truth sitting on his throne, broadcasting to them, speaking in perfect English with a smooth, British-accented voice that belied the threatening content of the message.

"Cowering in the dirt, thinking… what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? _No_. Your world will _burn _until its surface is but _glass_! And not even your Demons will live to creep, blackened, from their hole to mar the reflection of our passage… the culmination of our Journey. For your extinction is the will of the Gods, and I? _I am their instrument_!"

The broadcast cut off, and all power returned to the base.

"Cocky bastard just _loves _to run his mouth" Johnson muttered.

"Does he usually mention us?" the Master Chief asked, standing next to Teana with a hand on her shoulder; he had noticed her growing increasingly angry with every second Truth was speaking, and her visor was depolarized, allowing him to see her eyes, the irises now a vibrant red.

Miranda looked around, and then turned to the comm. officer. "Give the order; we're closing shop."

"Ma'am?"

"We're about to get hit."

The man nodded and keyed the mic. "All personnel: Defense Code Alpha-1. Prepare for immediate evacuation."

"We need to get all the wounded out" Keyes said.

"Will do," Johnson replied, "even if I have to carry 'em myself".

"We will assist you in coordinating the evacuation, Sergeant-Major" a red-armored Sangheili said, as two more at his side nodded in agreement.

"Ma'am, squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where should they go?"

"To the hangar… and to war"

**Know Your Role…**

"We just lost the perimeter cameras" the technician reported.

"Motion trackers?" Keyes asked.

"They're down, or we're not receiving; can't tell."

"Any of our birds squawking?"

"No, ma'am. Wait… Overwatch has contacts… Phantoms, closing in on our position."

"Any birds less than five minutes out, bring them in. Tell everything else to scatter."

"Aye-aye"

"We knew they'd find us eventually. But we have a plan; let's make it happen."

A chorus of "YES, SIR!" was the reply.

Johnson turned to the Chief and Teana. "The Arbiter and I will guard the ops center. You two head out and help our soldiers."

The two Spartans headed down the stairs in the middle of the room, passing several weapons racks, where the Chief stocked up on MA5C and BR55HB-SR ammo, and both Spartans grabbed some frag and plasma grenades. They walked up to a closed door, where two marines waited.

"This base was built for some late 20th-century war" one said. "It's full of old tech, like these door controls."

He hit a button on the wall, and the door swung open. They passed into a larger multi-leveled room, where several marines and army troopers lingered.

"Get those turrets up!" Gunnery-Sergeant Stacker ordered. "Watch your fields of fire!"

"It's so quiet…" one Private muttered. "What is this, sir?"

"The calm before the storm, boy; enjoy it while ya can."

"Hey, whatever happened to Colonel Ackerson?" one of the army troopers said, catching John's attention (Teana already knows). "Haven't heard anything from or about him in a while…"

"He got killed" another replied. "From what I hear, the Brutes caught him on Mars, took him in for 'interrogation'. He managed to not crack, and when he was nearing his limit he deliberately taunted the Chieftain until the big guy snapped and beheaded him before he could be made to divulge any sensitive info."

John was quiet. Even though Ackerson was a reprehensible bastard, he had died a hero's death, fighting the Covenant to the bitter end. He could almost respect the man for that. Almost.

The base suddenly shook, almost knocking a few people off their feet.

"Point of entry, best assessment!" Stacker shouted.

"The hangar, sir" a marine replied.

"Agreed. Spartans, get there!"

The Spartan pair reached another door, where two marines joined them. They opened the door and stepped through, entering an old hallway. Several rats hid in the corners, trying not to be noticed by the humans.

"Chief? Lanstar?" Commander Keyes contacted them. "Good; this channel is secure. My fireteams are spread thin. We can't hold out forever. I need that hangar cleared for evac ASAP."

They reached the end of the hallway, opening the door just in time to see a Warthog and its two occupants blown up by a pair of plasma grenades. Teana switched Cross Mirage to Rifle Mode single-shot and ran out, firing a rifle grenade at the Loyalist Grunts gathered, killing four. The Chief then took down the Brute Captain-Major leading the Grunt pack, while Teana handled the Jackals and the marines gunned down the Grunts. They reached a long hallway, and at the other end were two Jackal marksmen and four Grunts. Teana killed the Jackals while the Chief took out the Grunts with his BR.

They ran through, past a dead marine, and reached the hangar, where four marines and two Sangheili Minors were busy taking out a trio of Loyalist Grunts that had made their way up to the platform. An enemy Spirit was vacating the area, having just dropped off a squad of two Brute Majors, two Jackal Majors, and four Grunt Majors. The Chief and Teana each manned an AIE-486H heavy machinegun turret and used them to quickly clear the deck. An enemy Phantom flew in and dropped off a squad of Grunts led by a blue-armored Brute Captain; one of the Elites threw a plasma grenade, which stuck to and killed the Brute, also taking out three Grunts with the blast. The now-panicking Grunts were quickly mowed down by the HMG turrets. Another Phantom and a Spirit flew in and dropped off their cargo, which added up to a single teal-armored Brute Captain-Ultra, three blue-armored Brute Majors, and several Skirmishers and Jackals. More allied forces – Elites and Separatist Grunts – came up from behind and added their fire to that of the humans', and the hangar was soon clear. A Pelican held by a crane was carried out and released, and sat down on the pad. The humans and Separatists boarded the craft, the two Spartans making sure that no more nasty surprises popped out.

"Spartans! Op center, double-time!" Johnson radioed. "The Brutes are pressin' hard!"

The two got off of the turrets and doubled back, heading back through the halls until they reached the enclosed road. As they walked through it, something could be heard banging on the vents over their heads, accompanied by the sound of insect wings.

"You hear that?" a marine said.

"Yeah," an army trooper replied, "and I don't like it…"

"Attention!" Cmdr. Keyes' voice came over the loudspeakers. "Hostiles reported outside the barracks."

The two Spartans, the marine, and the army trooper entered the corridors, following them back toward the command center as the banging noises continued.

"Barracks are under attack! All available combat teams, respond! Anyone in the barracks, I need a sit-rep, _now_!"

They entered the rocky chamber, and a marine waved them over. Suddenly, a Drone appeared from above and grabbed hold of the man, starting to lift him up. John shot the offending insect through the head, and the man through the corpse off of himself. Across the room, several more Drones poured out of the broken vent, a silver individual and 11 green ones.

"Light 'em up! Light 'em up!"

"What the hell are those things, sir?"

"Drones! A whole swarm! Take 'em down; short, controlled bursts!"

Teana fired a rifle grenade, using her new optical ability to ensure the accuracy required to hit the silver Drone dead-on, the explosion also killing two green Drones. She then switched to full-auto and started firing in bursts of 3 to 5, while the Master Chief pulled out his assault rifle and did the same. A Separatist Grunt found an HMG turret, and the swarm was quickly cut down. The two Spartans hurried through the bottom door and back into the ops center.

**Gift With Purchase**

"If I try to hook up a timer," Sgt. Reynolds said, "it might go off all by itself."

"Johnson," Cmdr. Keyes said on the screen, "you're standing right next to a bomb. You might wanna put that thing out."

Johnson shrugged and pulled his cigar out of his mouth, dropping it to the floor and putting it out with his boot.

"Have a look, Spartans" Keyes said to the pair. "A little going-away gift for the Covenant. We've linked it to smaller charges throughout the base. Johnson, as soon as the evacuation is complete, start the timer."

"Understood"

"Good luck, everyone. I'll see you on the last Pelican out."

The screen cut out, and Johnson walked up. "Follow me, kids."

"Kids?" both Spartans said.

"Hey, one of you is 16 and the other is 41. I, on the other hand, am 82, though I may not look a day over 60. I get to call you two 'kids' if and when I want to."

The Chief shook his head and beckoned Teana to follow. The three reached a door guarded by three marines with shotguns and an Elite Ultra with a plasma repeater. Johnson stopped by the door and turned to face the Spartans.

"Brutes have taken the barracks" he explained. "Marines are trapped inside. Those apes ain't much for mercy; we all know what they do to prisoners…"

The door opened, as the Chief left his assault rifle in exchange for an M90A shotgun and 24 extra shells.

"Get to the barracks, save those soldiers, and then escort them to the landin' pad for evac."

"Where's the Arbiter?" Teana asked.

"He went on ahead. I just contacted him a minute ago, and he said he'd wait for you two so as to help ya clear the barracks."

They moved down the short hall, the door sealing behind them, and reached an enclosed part of a vehicle bay. At the other side was a Brute pack, led by a red-and-black-armored Chieftain with a gravity hammer.

"A fresh scent!" one Brute exclaimed. "It must be close!"

"Spread out!" ordered the Chieftain. "Find them!"

The Spartan pair quickly took cover behind a metal barricade, finding several frag grenades at their feet. They tossed three out, killing two Brutes, and then popped out and used their rifles to kill a few more. They ducked into cover to avoid return fire, but by this point there were only two Brutes left besides the Chieftain. They quickly dashed to a different spot ahead and to the right, killing another Brute as they ran. The Chieftain came forward, hammer ready, but the Chief acted faster, blasting the big Brute point-blank with his shotgun. Two shots brought down the stunned Brute's shields and wounded it, and a third blew its brains out. The last Brute charged, berserking, but Teana switched Mirage Rifle's attachment to the energy bayonet and used it to slice through the Brute's throat as she dodged, stabbing it through the back of the head for good measure after it fell.

The pair then moved on, entering a room where the path ahead was caved in. However, a manhole was open, allowing them to progress. They dropped down through it, and heard the beating of Drone wings. For the Chief, time suddenly slowed again, and the warped image of Cortana filled his vision, her echoing voice in his head.

"YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED UPON TO SERVE."

He shook his head and regained himself, and the two Spartans pressed on; ahead and behind, Drones flitted between pipes, not noticing the Spartans. They reached the end and dropped down through a vertical shaft until they reached a canal, where the Arbiter fired his plasma rifles at a swarm of Drones.

"Half-wit insects!" he shouted. "The Prophets use you like they used me! Reject their lies! Rebel! Or all your hives will perish!"

Sadly, the bugs refused to listen and had to be gunned down. With the area clear, the Sangheili turned to the human pair.

"Spartans, the Brutes have taken your soldiers. As prisoners or meat for their bellies, I do not know. In case some yet live, let us be careful when we shoot."

The trio moved to the door and opened it, stepping into the barracks. Ahead, several dead marines lay in a pool of blood around a support pillar, and another man was thrown into it from the right, his skull cracking on impact. The trio rushed out and to the right, the Chief shooting through the unshielded head a Brute who had a marine held up by the neck. The marine grabbed the Brute's spiker and ran over to the trio of soldiers, adding his fire to theirs as they killed five more Brutes, rescuing two more marines in the process. The six-strong group continued through the barracks, fighting their way through more Brutes, Jackals, and Loyalist Grunts until they reached an area where several marines & troopers, along with a few Separatist Grunts and two Separatist Skirmishers, were being held hostage. They quickly killed the two Brute guards and freed the captives, who immediately grabbed weapons from a few nearby lockers. The large squad easily took out most of the remaining Brutes, with the Chief & the Arbiter working together to take down a Brute Chieftain who was carrying a man-portable plasma turret, which the Chief then claimed as his own.

"We have done all we can here" the Arbiter said. "Let us move the survivors up to the hangar. There is a lift outside."

After a few minutes of tending to the dead (closing eyes, putting bodies in somewhat-dignified positions, grabbing ID tags), the squad exited the barracks and came out on a floor beneath the smaller hangar. The Arbiter hit the button to call down the lift.

"Commander," Johnson's voice came over the radio. "We lost the Ops Center. Brutes attacked in force. We couldn't hold 'em off. We're falling back to the hangar, but don't wait for us."

"What should I do, ma'am?" Foehammer's voice asked.

"Hold position" Keyes ordered from E419's copilot seat. "I'm not leaving without them."

The elevator arrived, and everyone piled in. Teana hit the button, and the lift closed and began to rise. Up above, a Pelican resting on the landing pad got some unwanted guests.

"Ma'am, I've got movement," Foehammer reported, "above _and _below. Brutes; they've got jump-packs!"

"They're going after the thrusters!" Keyes said. "Let's shake them off!"

The Pelican ascended up and out of the open roof as several jump-pack Brutes landed on the platform. From the elevator, the squad emerged and attacked, opening fire on the flyers. After a short and hectic battle, the deck was cleared, though at the cost of an army trooper's life. Another group of Brutes emerged from a side passage, but the Chief used the last of the plasma turret's charge to gun them down, tossing the spent weapon aside afterward. Echo-419, seeing it was safe, began to descend to the platform.

From a door below and to the right came the Sergeant-Major, four marines, and the three red-armored Elites, being pursued by a swarm of Drones. The Master Chief and Teana added their fire and squashed the bugs, and Johnson & his soldiers ran up onto the platform and over to the Pelican.

"Brutes, in the Op Center" Johnson reported. "They disarmed the bomb. Sorry, Commander; there were too many, even for me."

"Chief, get back to the Ops Center" Keyes ordered. "Kill those Brutes, and rearm the bomb. I've gotta get these soldiers outta here, but I'll radio with another exit. Lanstar, Arbiter, get aboard; let the Chief handle this. Good luck, Spartan."

The survivors crammed aboard the Pelican, which lifted up and out of the open roof and then flew off toward safety. The Master Chief grabbed some ammo for his BR, and then headed down through the doorway that Johnson had come from.

**Last One Out, Get the Lights**

He walked down an empty roadway, soon reaching another small door into a tunnel. Another slowed-time Cortana-flash hit him.

"YOU WILL BE THE PROTECTORS OF EARTH AND ALL HER COLONIES."

He recognized part of the speech that Dr. Halsey had given to the to-be Spartans so long ago. He remembered the revelation that Teana had learned from Halsey during the _Gettysburg/Justice_'s escape from Reach, and then told to him over a private channel during the flight to Crow's Nest, the origin of Cortana. It had at least partly explained why he often felt comfortable with Cortana; she was essentially Dr. Halsey's 'daughter'. One more reason to keep his promise…

He gathered himself, putting his thoughts away for now, and focused on his objective. He reached a large road-tunnel, surprising a Grunt manning a plasma turret. He knocked the Grunt out and aside, and then used the turret to gun down a trio of Jackals and the gunner of another turret a bit further down. He ran over to that turret and ripped it from its mounting, carrying it and using it to kill two enemy Skirmishers and another turret gunner Grunt. He dropped the gun and went for cover as a carbine shot barely missed his head, readying his BR and peeking out after a few seconds, quickly dealing with the Jackals perched on the ledge up ahead. He then readied his assault rifle and gunned down the last two Grunts, grabbing another plasma turret and carrying it up the hall and into the command chamber. He hid behind some shelves, listening in as a Brute Chieftain hefting a fuel rod gun conversed with the Prophet of Truth via the large screen.

"We have taken their command center!" the Chieftain reported.

"Have you discovered how they plan to stop me?" Truth asked.

"…Not just yet, Noble Prophet."

"Find out what I need to know, or your place on the Path is forfeit. _Tell me you understand_…"

"Yes, Holy One. It shall be done."

The screen switched off, and the Chieftain turned to his subordinates.

"Have the Yanme'e scour these machines!" he ordered. "Find out what these _heathens _know about the Ark!"

The Master Chief quickly threw a frag grenade and then opened fire with his turret, the grenade killing all but one of the Grunts and wounding a Brute Minor. He cut the last Grunt and two more Brutes down before having to jump down to avoid a pair of fuel-rod shots. He took out the rest of the lesser Brutes and then turned the gun on the Chieftain. The gun ran empty just as the big Brute's shields were almost depleted, and the Chief quickly dropped it and pulled out his BR55, firing two bursts that finished the Chieftain off. He walked over to the large bomb and hit the switch, and alarms began to blare.

"That did it, Chief!" Cmdr. Keyes radioed. "Bomb's armed!"

"We got your exit!" Johnson said. "A service elevator near the hangar! Head downstairs, cut through the caves!"

John immediately secured his weapons and then ran down the steps and through the door, rushing past panicking Loyalist Grunts. He reached the entrance to a tunnel, and again time slowed.

"THERE WILL BE A GREAT DEAL OF HARDSHIP ON THE ROAD AHEAD."

Thankfully, these 'Cortana Moments' seemed to only affect his perception, and didn't actually make him physically slow down whenever they happened, only seemed to do so from his perspective. He ran through the cave and to the enclosed roadway, and a swarm of Drones flew top speed around and over him, not even bothering to turn and shoot. He ran past more running Grunts, easily outpacing them, and hung a left to run down the hallway leading to the hangar. As he neared, it happened again.

"YOU WILL BECOME THE BEST WE CAN MAKE YOU."

He ran out into the hangar, taking a 10-foot leap to the ground floor. He ran past a trio of Jackals and hung a right, sprinting to the elevator just ahead. He got in and hit the button. The doors closed, and the elevator began to descend.

"THIS PLACE WILL BECOME YOUR HOME."

As it descended, there was tremendous _boom_, and the entire base shook violently. Above, flames shot out at high speed into the elevator shaft. The cables holding up the elevator were burned through and snapped, and the elevator plummeted. The Chief was knocked unconscious as it hit the bottom.

"THIS PLACE WILL BECOME YOUR TOMB."

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	31. Tsavo Highway

Here's Chapter 30. Teana won't be in this one until later in.

Updates will be taking a little longer for a while, since I got _Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep _for Christmas. I'm currently (1/2/11; afternoon) playing Terra's story, level-grinding in preparation for the boss battle against Eraqus (Level 50 with maxed-out Aeroga, Mine Square, & Curaga, and the abilities 'Leaf Bracer', 'Defender', 'Second Chance', and 'Once More', should all be enough, right? And how on Earth do I unlock the finisher 'Heal Strike'? It's the only one I don't have yet.)

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Earth**

**Subterranean section of Crow's Nest Base**

**November 17****th**** 2552**

**1130 hours**

**Full-Contact Safari**

For the Chief, consciousness returned rather quickly. He got to his feet, ignoring aches & pains, and walked out of the busted elevator. Miraculously, two of his three weapons – assault rifle and battle rifle – had survived the crash with nothing more than a few scratches; the shotgun was bent and twisted from the impact, so he left it where it lay. He walked out, finding several marines and army troopers, many of them wounded, along with two Sangheili, one red-armored and one blue-armored.

"Chief, please respond" Keyes' voice came over the comm. It was filled with static, and the signal was so bad that the Chief could only hear, not respond. "What's your status, over? If you can hear me, find transport. Get to the town of Voi."

The signal cut out. The Master Chief took a head-count, and then made a tertiary inspection. Nearly everyone was wounded, but most of them were capable of moving and fighting.

"Ah, watch it! I've got a broken rib!"

"Hey, you wanna bleed out?"

"…No…" 

'Then I gotta keep pressure on the wound."

He walked up to the Elites. "That was not quite the most unpleasant experience I've ever had," one said, "but it comes close."

"Ha!" another replied. "You haven't rode out a crash-landing in a dropship, have you? _That _is unpleasant."

"But that, in turn," the third piped in, "is nothing compared to being aboard a ship that gets slammed into by an asteroid a third its size. Even with the shields up, the impact set us tumbling about like rag-dolls inside the vessel."

"Someone hit the emergency power" Sgt. Reynolds ordered, after using his rifle to destroy a security camera, in case any Covenant were still alive to watch them. Another marine with a small cut on his cheek, long since stopped bleeding, walked over to the side room and hit the switch, and several lights on the ceiling came on, dispelling the darkness.

"Any word from Charlie-2?" a marine asked. "We got separated."

"Nah, man" another replied. "Alpha-6. They're all gone, too."

"This swelling could be a fracture" a corpsman said to a wounded marine. "You think you can stand?"

"I don't know, doc…"

"If you can walk," Sgt. Reynolds said, "set your boots on the line."

The Master Chief and two of the Sangheili followed several marines into the vehicle bay. The lights flickered on, though it was still rather dark.

"What's our situation, sir?" a marine asked Reynolds.

"Not sure" Reynolds replied. "Can't reach the Commander; too far underground."

"Then we go up until we _can _reach her" the Chief said, walking over to a Warthog and getting in the driver's seat.

The group looked at each other, and then split between the two vehicles. One of the Sangheili manned the gun on the Chief's ride, while Sgt. Reynolds got in the passenger seat. The other four marines and the other Elite got in the Transport Warthog, the last marine hitting the door controls before he got in. The large door swung open, and the two Warthogs rolled out and into the tunnels, the Chief's leading. The Hogs rolled out, hanging a right, and found a group of Loyalist Grunts & Jackals trading fire with some marines. The Chief hit the accelerator and road-killed a Grunt and two Jackals, while the Sangheili manning the chaingun took out the rest. The two Warthogs drove out of the tunnel and into the sunlight, the gunner killing two more fleeing Jackals. They moved forward, finding a group of Grunts led by a Brute Captain next to a crashed Phantom and gunning them down. Several people stared at the massive wreckage that was all over the place.

"Is that…" a female marine asked, "the Mombasa Space Elevator?"

"Yeah" a man replied. "It collapsed when the city got glassed."

"But… but the tether was _thousands _of kilometers high!"

"Yeah? Well, now it's scattered all over the savannah."

"Holy _shit_…"

"Chieftains!" the voice of a Brute War-Chieftain came over the downed Phantom's radio. "Rally your packs! Kill all survivors; let none near the crater! The Prophet will soon complete his blessed task!"

They drove over a small hill and found a deployable lookout tower, with two Jackal Snipers heading for it; the Jackals were gunned down quickly before they could get to cover. The Chief drove up next to one and briefly hopped out to grab its beam rifle. They drove on, finding another crashed Phantom protected by a gold-armored Brute Captain-Major and three turrets, all easily dealt with by the Warthog's gun.

"I see it, pack brothers!" A Brute Chieftain's voice came over the dropship's radio. "The holy relic! What fools, to live so long on hallowed ground, never knowing what lay beneath the surface."

The two vehicles went right, passing through a short tunnel into a small canyon that came out into a wider, dried-up area with an old dam and crawling with Covenant forces. As a Phantom flew away, the Transport Hog charged in, passengers' guns blazing, and cut down most of the Grunts and Jackals. The Sangheili manning the Chief's Warthog's gun used it to kill the Skirmisher pair perched on the dam, and then turned the weapon on a pack of Brutes. The area was quickly cleared, the last to die being a Grunt making a run for a Shade. They drove down the slope and up to a destroyed Warthog, which had been towing a now-looted trailer full of rations and ammunition. A voice came over the comm., awash with static.

"…I repeat; my convoy's been hit. I've got wounded. We're on the Tsavo Highway, 'bout (_static_) east of Voi. Someone, anyone, please respond…"

The drivers hit the gas, and the two Warthogs peeled out. As they approached a corner, a Brute Chopper rolled out in front of them and towards a Warthog with destroyed wheels but an operational – and still firing – chaingun. The massive bike slammed front-wheel-first into the Warthog, the humongous spinning spikes and sheer mass of the Brute vehicle slicing and crushing through the human one, turning its gunner into a red smear on the cutting wheels. The Sangheili manning the gun opened fire on the retreating vehicle, hitting the unprotected driver from behind and quickly killing him.

"We were en route to Voi, Chief" said the convoy's Sergeant. "Banshees jumped us; started strafing… pretty much ruined our day."

Another Chopper rolled up, but the now-larger force pointed and fired every gun they had at it at once, the sheer volume of fire quickly chewing through armor and hitting something vital, causing the Chopper to explode. A marine ducked, barely avoiding the loose-rolling blade-wheel. They then turned their attention to the three Brutes and the Shade guarding the tunnel, taking out the heavy turret and then the alien trio.

"Marines in Voi really needed these supplies, Chief, but I'm sure they'll be plenty happy to see you."

The Master Chief hopped out of the Warthog's driver seat, letting Reynolds take the wheel, and took control of the surviving Chopper. They drove up to the barrier blocking the tunnel, remembering from basic study that this type of field stopped vehicles but not pedestrians. The Chief got out, walked through, and stuck a plasma grenade to the generator. As soon as it blew, a swarm of Drones came out from the tunnel, and were quickly swatted by the Warthog's chaingun. Before he walked back to his Chopper, he heard the Prophet of Truth's hologram preaching.

"The gods will not begrudge our excavation" the hologram said. "By uncovering this relic, we add homage to their glory. When the dust settles, we will all see what I already know: here lies the Path; the start of our Great Journey".

He headed back to his Chopper and was given a one-time-use portable gravity lift that the convoy Sergeant had found. With this in hand, he climbed aboard his Chopper and continued through the cave. As he reached the end and came out of the cave, a Covenant Loyalist Battlecruiser suddenly soared past him, less than 250 meters over his head. The ground shook as the vessel sped toward the Mombasa Slipspace Crater (as it was, at the moment, being called by UNSC Intelligence).

"Commander, this is ONI Recon 111" a man's voice came over the comm. "The cruisers above (_static_), they've found (_static_)."

"Say again, Recon" Keyes replied. "You're breaking up."

"There's something in the crater, ma'am; something beneath the storm."

The Chief reached a broken section of bridge. He walked forward, placed the gravity lift, and drove the Chopper over it, landing on the other side of the gap.

**The Broken Path**

"Master Chief?" Commander Keyes radioed. "Finally, a good connection. Truth has excavated a Forerunner artifact. We have to assume it's the Ark."

"Keep pushin' to the town of Voi, Chief" Johnson said. "Resupply birds will meet you in the next valley."

He drove a short ways into a small valley filled with overturned vehicles, storage crates, and Covenant soldiers. Ahead, several marines were hunkered down in a small structure atop a hill. He lent his fire, using the Chopper's 35mm cannons to tear through Brutes and Loyalist Grunts. A few Jetpack Brutes flew in and opened fire, but he swung the Chopper around, letting the heavy front take the blows, and opened fire, shooting them out of the sky. He blasted his way through, gunning down the fuel-rod-gun-wielding Chieftain and stealing his weapon, and then got out and jogged up to the marines.

"Damn good to see you, Chief!"

'Sir," a female army trooper said, "Recon spotted Covenant armor ahead. Pelicans are inbound with heavy weapons; we need to hold out 'till they arrive."

An enemy Phantom flew in from the left, dropping off several Brutes and Skirmishers. The Master Chief grabbed a sniper rifle inside the building and put it to good use, killing the lone Skirmisher with a particle beam rifle as well as two teal-armored Brute Captain-Ultras, while the marines took out the rest of the enemy, one of them using the Chief's Chopper's guns. The marine in the Chopper was suddenly obliterated as a Wraith mortar flew in from the left and scored a direct hit on the vehicle, and then rolled/hovered into the valley, the Brute in the turret gleefully gunning down another marine. The Chief used his sniper rifle to kill the turret gunner and pick off the rest of the Brutes, and then ran toward the Wraith, ducking between and through pipes and boulders as he made his way closer. Finally, he dashed out and leapt onto the vehicle, grabbing hold of the top hatch and ripping it off. He fired his battle rifle down at the surprised Brute, killing it, and then pulled out and threw aside the body, hopping into the Wraith's pilot seat. A Pelican flew in, carrying a Warthog armed with an M79 Multiple Launch Rocket System (_Halo Reach_ Rocket Hog).

"Brutes have plenty of armor between here and Voi," Johnson radioed from the Pelican, "but with this Rocket Hog and that Wraith, you should be able to push on through."

As the Pelican lowered and dropped off its cargo, Teana jumped out from the rear hatch, landing on the Chief's Wraith and hopping into the plasma turret. A marine hopped into the driver's seat of the Warthog, an army trooper manned the Warthog's launcher, and a Separatist Jackal with a DMR hopped in its passenger seat. As the Pelican lifted off, it fired a rocket barrage that destroyed two incoming enemy Choppers, and then flew away. Two more Choppers came around the rocks and opened fire; the Wraith's frontal armor protected it, and it lobbed a plasma mortar at them, destroying one and sending the other tumbling to the side, the Brute driver quickly smothering the small flames on his fur. A barrage from the Rocket Hog destroyed the last Chopper, and another plasma mortar took out the deployable lookout tower at the top of the next slope.

They headed right, through a tunnel, and came out to a broken highway. Ahead, two Brutes were taken down by the Rocket Hog before they could reach their Choppers, and the Chief briefly jumped out to grab more fuel-rod ammo next to the bikes before hopping back into the hover-tank. The two vehicles continued on, entering the rocky area and opening fire on several Choppers, the area soon littered with twisted, burning wrecks of metal. They went left, destroying three more Choppers and a Shade, and encountered a Wraith. The Chief's Wraith distracted it while the Rocket Hog drove behind it and blasted it in the rear with some rockets, destroying it. The Hog then took out another Shade while the Chief's Wraith destroyed another hostile Wraith at the top of the hill, on the road. A loud clap of thunder in the distance drew everyone's attention to the massive circular thing being unearthed by the Covenant ships, and the humongous, swirling storm above it.

"Look at the size of that thing!" a marine exclaimed. "Wonder how old it is?"

"Don't know" another replied. "But I do know that ain't a normal storm."

"Commander," ONI Recon 111's voice said over the comm., "I can see most of it now. Readings are all over the EM spectrum."

"Roger that, Recon" Keyes replied. "Shut off your gear and fall back. I'll monitor from Echo-419."

"Chief," Johnson radioed the team, "the gate to Voi is dead ahead. Smash the Brute blockade. Open her up!"

The Wraith trundled down the road, reaching a barricade of overturned vehicles. Amongst the barricade, a Brute pack lay in wait. The Chief ended their waiting by launching a plasma mortar that killed nearly half of them. The rest tried to run for cover, only for Teana to gun them down with the turret. The Chief then used his Wraith's 47-ton bulk to nudge the vehicles aside, clearing a path. Nearby, another hologram broadcasted Truth's speech.

"My dreadnaught, the vessel that has so long been the focus of our worship, now rests on its true pedestal. Even now, its engines spark greater ones below, relics long without power yet ready to fulfill their divine purpose. Stand fast! Keep our enemies at bay! Soon, my brothers, we will _all _have our reward!"

They reached an area in front of another tunnel. Here, the Brutes had set up several blockade structures, two Shade turrets, and had even taken a crashed Pelican and turned it into a minor fortification. The Master Chief shelled the area with plasma mortars, destroying the Shades and taking out about half of the Brutes. The Rocket Warthog drove up, using its guns to kill several more. The two Spartans disembarked from the Wraith, heading for the tunnel so as to destroy the barrier generator. As they neared it, a Brute Chieftain with a plasma launcher popped up, and they barely dodged two potentially-fatal shots. The Chief killed the Brute with three shots from his fuel-rod gun, while Teana walked through the barrier field and used a spike grenade to destroy the generator. Outside, two Pelicans – Echo-419 and Kilo-23 – flew into the area, dropping off a pair of Warthogs.

"Lord Hood," Keyes radioed, "we've made it."

"Music to my ears, Commander" Hood replied. "What about the Ark?"

"Fully uncovered, sir."

"Then we don't have much time. Boys & girls, listen up! The Prophet of Truth doesn't know it yet, but he's about to get kicked right off his throne. We will take our city back, and drive our enemy into the grave they've been so happily digging. One final effort is all that remains!"

The Chief watched as a Covenant assault carrier flew by, not noticing the gathering of humans, and then turned and walked over to one of the Warthogs.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	32. The Storm After the Calm

Here's Chapter 31: _The Storm _and _Floodgate_

_BBS _Update: beat Eraqus at LV48. A relentless offense, liberal use of Block/Guard, and the Ragnarok shotlock – which seems to be tailor-made to take huge chunks out of bosses' HP - are the keys to victory

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Earth**

**Voi, Kenya**

**November 17****th****, 2552**

**1650 hours**

**Ghost Town**

Three Warthogs rode through a tunnel, one standard (i.e., with an M41 chaingun) in the middle, and two Troop Transport Warthogs in front of and behind it. The Master Chief rode shotgun in the Standard Hog, with Teana driving and Sgt. Reynolds manning the gun.

"Spartans," Keyes contacted the duo, "the Prophet of Truth has found the Ark. Our only chance of stopping him is a surprise aerial assault. Clear this sector of Covenant anti-air defenses, and make a hole for the Fleet-Admiral's ships. Good hunting. Keyes out."

The convoy exited the tunnel, slowly rolling across the concrete. A light rain was falling. They reached a closed door, and the two Spartans disembarked, one of the Transport Hog marines jumping out and taking the Standard Hog's wheel. The pair crossed the room, climbing a set of steps and sneaking out into a balcony overlooking the Grunts & Jackals in the next room, most of whom were gathered around a hologram of the Prophet of Truth, listening to another of his speeches.

"With my gentle encouragement," Truth spoke, "our Lords' holy relic springs to life. …It is… unfortunate that our enemies also bear witness to its glory, but their dull eyes will soon be closed; _seared _by the Rings' unforgiving light."

The sermon was interrupted by a frag grenade, which blew the attending Grunts & Jackals apart. The few in the room who weren't near the hologram snapped to attention, pointing weapons every which way. Two Jackals came up the stairs and nearly ran into the Spartans, who reacted quicker and managed to kill the avian aliens with a pair of skull-cracking blows. Teana then hit the large green button, and the door beneath them opened. The Warthog rolled through, Reynolds using the M41 to clear out the few remaining hostiles. The Spartans took the 12-foot drop to the floor with ease, and sauntered over to the next door, the Chief hitting the switch. As the door slid open, the Chief threw a frag grenade that went off amongst a charging quartet of Jackals, shredding them. Teana used Mirage Rifle single-shot to kill the Grunts up ahead, while the Chief used his battle rifle to take down the two Brutes. As the Warthog moved up, the Spartan pair headed for the three Covenant vehicles, ignoring the Ghosts and hopping aboard the Revenant. A marine hit the next door switch, and the red vehicle hovered out and headed left, boosting toward some Grunts with intent to road-kill.

"Echo-419, this is _Ars Arcanum_" Hood's voice came over the radio. "I need a sit-rep, Commander."

"Atmospheric disturbance is intensifying above the Artifact, Admiral."

"And the Spartans?"

"Moving as fast as they can, sir. I know they'll get it done."

The Revenant turned onto a pier (well, what used to be a pier before the local ocean was forcefully pushed back by the Covenant), and fired several plasma shells at some Covenant forces on top of a steel-and-concrete shack who were firing on some marines. The roof was mostly cleared, and the marines rushed in & up and finished the job. Off to the left, near the doorway to the next area, a Spirit dropped off a Wraith, which fired a few plasma mortars at the pier. The Revenant reversed off and headed back toward the ramp down, while the marines quickly ran into the shack to avoid the incoming fire. As the Spartans' Revenant reached the dried ocean bed, three Ghosts rushed in to meet them, but the combination of the vehicle's plasma shell launcher and Teana's Mirage Rifle 40mm grenade launcher quickly took out the Grunt drivers. A Phantom flew in, and the Revenant took cover beneath the pier as the dropship/gunship dropped off two more Ghosts next to the AA Wraith in the area. As soon as the Phantom was away, the Chief drove back out and opened fire on the Ghosts, taking one out while Teana hit the other one's driver in the face with a rifle grenade. They then drove up behind the AA Wraith and fired into its vulnerable rear, quickly resulting in a burst of bluish-white flame as the craft exploded. A Falcon then flew in, firing its two grenade-launcher turrets to destroy the other Wraith and the Grunts near it.

"Hell, yeah!" said a marine. "The fly-boys are gonna love us for that!"

"That-a-way, Spartans!" Johnson radioed. "Target destroyed! Move to the next area, over."

The Revenant used a huge broken slab of concrete as a ramp to reach the next door, which opened as they approached. Inside, a few marines – one manning a heavy machinegun – poured fire into Covenant forces.

"Man, they just keep comin'!"

"Check your fire! It's the Spartans!"

The Revenant's plasma-shell cannon made quick work of the Skirmishers and Brutes, pouring so many shots into the upper level that there was no escape, not even for the Chieftain (though the fact that he tried to charge the Revenant in a berserker rage once his pack was killed was probably a deciding factor in his death). The marines opened the next door, and the Revenant rode through. As soon as it did, a Phantom up above released a swarm of Drones. The Spartan pair immediately dismounted and took cover, opening fire on the bugs with their rifles. After about half the swarm was dead, the rest withdrew (Yanme'e are physically/psychologically incapable of fear, but they are still smart enough to know that it's a good idea to fall back when your outnumbered foes manage to effortlessly slaughter half your swarm). The Spartan pair got back in the Revenant and rode through the next door. As they crossed it, time suddenly and briefly slowed to a crawl for the Master Chief, and again Cortana's image appeared in his mind.

"I HAVE DEFIED GODS AND DEMONS…"

It faded, and he continued on, meeting eight marines getting aboard four Mongooses, the passengers hefting rocket launchers. They drove through the door, reaching a dried lake bed with a beached ship and several Covenant vehicles – two AA Wraiths and a half-dozen Ghosts & Choppers. The Mongooses sped ahead and spread out, taking out two of the four Ghosts, while one of the Choppers was sent hurtling over the cliff by the Spartans' Revenant. The Chief then swung in behind an AA Wraith and bombarded its rear with plasma shells, soon causing a chain explosion that ripped through the vehicle. He then took out a Ghost, and then saw as the other AA Wraith turned its guns on one of the Mongooses, blowing the ATV's two occupants to bits. A pair of rockets from two other Mongooses hit the AA Wraith in the back, taking it out.

"Both AA Wraiths have been neutralized" Teana reported to the command Pelican.

"Nice work, Spartans" Keyes replied. "Secure that lake bed, and then stand by for further instruction."

Several enemy aircraft entered the area, so the Chief drove the Revenant over to a ledge on the upper side of the bed. He and Teana got out and manned the two missile pods, using them to assist the Falcons and Hornets in clearing the sky of Banshees. Two Phantoms flew in, each dropping off a Ghost; concentrated fire brought one of the retreating dropships down, while the launcher-wielding Mongoose riders took out the Ghosts. Suddenly, there was a whirring sound and a series of _thuds_, distant but quickly growing closer.

"Stand by" Johnson reported. "Somethin' _big_ closin' in on your location."

**Judgment**

Sure enough, several seconds later, an enemy Scarab – a new-model combat type - crawled over the building behind them and dropped into the lake bed, its 'tail' gun opening fire on the UNSC flyers while it fired its main cannon at the Mongooses below, destroying one. The Spartans focused missile fire on its leg joints, and soon it lowered to the ground, allowing a Pelican to blow off its rear armor with a missile barrage, and a pair of friendly Banshees to fire fuel-rod shots into its exposed core. Explosions wracked the walker, and several seconds later there was a near-blinding flash and a tremendous _bang _as the Scarab's reactor detonated, blowing the mecha to pieces.

"Well done, everyone" Keyes radioed. "I'm sending in a few Pelicans."

"One more target, folks" Johnson said. "There's a Covenant AA gun in the next area. Take it down so Lord Hood can start his attack run."

A Pelican flew in, and from it jumped the Arbiter, who climbed the slope and joined the Spartans and marines.

"There was honor in our Covenant once," he muttered, "and there shall be again."

"We've got this area locked down, sirs" a marine told the trio. "Follow us; we'll get you through."

The trio followed the marines into a combination HQ, armory, and medical area. The Chief stocked up on ammo, and then stood and waited for everyone else to finish up. Time suddenly slowed to a crawl for the Chief again, and again Cortana popped into his head.

"I AM YOUR SHIELD. I AM YOUR SWORD."

"All Brute ships are pulling back to Truth's dreadnaught" the radio said. "Wind inside the storm just hit 200 kilometers per hour; energy cascades all over the Artifact."

"Admiral," Keyes' voice said, "a single Covenant ship just slipped in-system."

"Just one?" Hood asked. "What's its range and disposition?"

"Above the artifact, inside the orbital line; seems to be holding steady."

"The attack proceeds as planned. We're not going to get another shot at Truth."

"Yes, sir"

Once everyone was set, the group headed through the door and into a large storage area. The Chief and the Arbiter killed a Brute harassing a marine, and the marine then manned a heavy machinegun and used it to cut down several Brutes in the area below and ahead. With the way clear, they advanced to the next area, to find several Brutes preparing to execute some construction workers. Teana head-shot the Brute Captain, who had his shields down, and the other two gunned down the rest of the Brutes, allowing the civilians to run for cover. The squad moved to the final section of the warehouse, and up ahead several more workers ran in… and were obliterated by two green bolts of explosive energy. A pair of Loyalist Hunters wandered into the warehouse, crouching behind their shields and opening fire at the soldiers. Everyone dove for cover, and the Chief pulled out his fuel rod gun. Eight rounds were sufficient to kill the twin titans, and the squad moved on.

Outside, a pack of Brutes & Grunts led by a hammer-wielding Chieftain were blocking the squad's path. An ODST in the back of the group took out the Chieftain with a sniper rifle during the chaos of the others' fire on the Grunts and lesser Brutes. The Arbiter lunged forth, plasma sword active, and carved through the remainder. To the right, a Brute Captain-Major and a pack of Jackals opened fire on them, but were quickly taken out by four frag grenades thrown by the marines. Ahead, another hologram of Truth spoke.

"Take heart, my brothers! Only our enemies should fear this raging storm! Darkened skies and lashing fire are all that remains for them we, _the worthy_, have passed beyond!"

The sermon was silenced by the Arbiter stabbing his sword through the projector.

"I will not be shamed!" he shouted to the fading hologram. "Not again! Not by you!"

As they pressed on, walking between buildings, it happened again.

"I KNOW YOU. YOUR PAST… YOUR FUTURE…"

The Chief shook his head and pressed on. As they rounded the next corner, the AA gun – an older model with a lower rate of fire – came into view. It turned left and fired, hitting an approaching Longsword and sending it crashing down in flames over the cliff.

"Spartans!" Keyes radioed. "Hood's ships are closing fast! Destroy that gun; we're out of time!"

Teana switched Cross Mirage to Sniper Mode and took aim at the FRG-wielding Chieftain atop the hill; two particle-beam shots brought down its shields, and the third shot killed it. She then took out the Grunt manning a plasma turret, and then the Brute Major next to it. The Chief and the Arbiter ran up, using battle rifle and needle rifle to kill the rest of the Grunts on the hill. The squad then moved up the hill, reaching the area beneath the gun, which was filled with Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes. Down below, the gigantic circular structure – 120 kilometers in diameter according to scans – marked the Earth, Truth's ship standing in the center of it while numerous Covenant ships flew in clockwise or counterclockwise paths above it. Teana gunned down a Brute Captain-Ultra and a FRG-carrying Grunt Ultra, while the Chief focused on the Jackals and the Arbiter took out the remaining Brutes. The area was soon clear, and the group wondered how to destroy the gun.

"Anyone bring any det-charges?" a marine asked.

"The gun is beginning to overheat" the Arbiter replied. "When the bottom vent opens, focus your fire on it."

The hatch on the gun's bottom slid open, and a crystal-like thing extended downward. The Chief fired his fuel rod gun at it, with three solid hits doing the job. A massive explosion blew the gun off its mounting, leaving it to tumble over the cliff. The trio walked over to the edge to look at the Artifact, Teana removing her helmet to allow her long hair to blow free. Suddenly, several Longswords, Sabres, and Separatist Seraphs shot overhead, followed by a _Marathon_-class cruiser, two UNSC frigates, and two destroyers (one UNSC and one Sangheili).

"All ships, fire at will!"

The fighters launched missiles and plasma charges at the dreadnaught, soon followed by MAC shots and two plasma torpedoes from the attacking warships. The Forerunner ship's shields were broken through, and a grazing shot from the last MAC took a (relatively) small chunk out of its left side. Suddenly, the ground began to shake as 14 massive monoliths began to slowly unfold from the Artifact, like the petals of a blooming flower. Blue light began to shine forth, and the dreadnaught began to sink into the ground. As the structures neared their apex, a brilliant beam of blue-white light shot straight up from the dreadnaught and into the sky. A pulse of energy and wind lanced outward, knocking the warships around and blowing everyone off their feet. There was a charging whine, and then a tremendous sound accompanying a blinding flash of light.

"THIS IS HOW THE WORLD ENDS. NOT WITH A WHIMPER, BUT WITH A BANG."

Everyone slowly picked themselves up, looking out at the spectacle before them. The 14 pillars were projecting a humongous sphere in the sky, blue along the edges and black in the center. The UNSC ships and the Elite ship were struggling to regain control, while Truth's ship began to fly straight up toward the sphere, the Covenant ships tightening their circles and approaching the sphere as well.

"What did Truth just do?" Hood shouted between coughs. "Did he activate the Rings?"

"No, sir," Keyes replied as Truth's ship flew into the sphere, revealing it to be a gigantic slipspace portal, "but he certainly did _something_…"

The Arbiter roared in fury as the target of his vengeance escaped, and Teana barely restrained herself from screaming the vilest curses she could come up with at the fleeing Prophet, as the rest of Truth's fleet entered the portal.

"Evac wounded and regroup" Hood ordered. "Wherever Truth went-" 

"Sir, new contact slipping in!" a technician exclaimed. To the north, a rift in slipspace briefly opened just long enough for a Covenant-built battlecruiser to fly through. It banked right and flew low over everyone's heads, a dull green mist trailing from it. It passed out of sight and impacted, shaking the ground and sending a huge plume of greenish-brown dust into the air, dimming the sunlight.

"What is it?" the Arbiter said. "More Brutes?"

"Worse" the Chief said, as he watched the sky darken, signaling Teana to re-don her helmet. Soon, sounds that were horrifyingly familiar began to fill their ears.

**It Followed Me Home**

"The Flood" Cmdr. Keyes radioed. "It's spreading all over the city."

"How do we contain it?" Hood asked.

"Find the crashed Flood ship; overload its engine core. We either destroy this city, or risk losing the entire planet."

"Do it."

"Assault Team, make your way to the crash site."

Across the chasm, to the right, two marines were overwhelmed by a force of Flood, being captured by two Infection Forms and transformed into more Combat Forms, who then ran off with the group of CFs. The trio pushed ahead, retracing their steps back toward the warehouse. Ahead, Sgt. Reynolds and his team were posted near the door, when suddenly a pack of Flood leapt down from the roofs and landed amongst them. Teana quickly used Mirage Rifle full-auto to kill the Infection Forms, while the Arbiter & the Chief used their rifles to take down the Combat Forms. All the same, half of Reynolds' squad was killed.

"Quickly!" the Arbiter said. "Let us find their ship, and make short work of this abomination!"

The Master Chief tossed aside the fuel-rod cannon in favor of an assault rifle, while Teana switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode. They entered the building, just in time for the Chief to kill an Infection Form heading towards a nearby marine, who joined them. The four entered the main warehouse, running to the aid of a Staff-Sergeant and three other marines. One of the marines was killed, but the rest joined the team, ready to fight through the Flood. They continued through the warehouse, killing Combat Forms as they went, and soon reached a larger area. On the catwalk up ahead, a marine with a flamethrower succumbed to the Flood, deliberately setting the weapon to explode as the Infection Form started digging into him. The blast vaporized the new Combat Form and several more beside it. The team fought through Flood forms, heading up onto the catwalk and into a small, brightly-lit room. They dropped through a hole in the floor. When they landed, the Chief was hit by another Cortana Moment.

"Chief! (_garbled) _I can't tell you everything… it's not safe. The Gravemind, it knows I'm in (_garbled_)."

They rounded a corner, and Teana quickly rolled out a frag grenade that killed all but two of the Combat Forms, killing the last two with her shotgun. They heard sobbing up ahead, and found a marine curled up against the wall, surrounded by dead marines who showed signs of Flood infection.

"I… I didn't have a choice…" he sobbed. "The LT, the Sergeant… they were _all _infected! …I could see it crawling… _sliding around beneath their skin!_ And-and then they got up, s-started to talk… _Oh God! Their voices! Oh God! No… Make them stop! _…I… I did them a favor. Yeah, that's it! I helped them (_sobbing_). Maybe… maybe I need to help _myself_…"

Before the man could do anything drastic, Reynolds grabbed a sedative from a nearby first-aid pack and injected the man, knocking him out. He then ordered two of the marines to stay and guard the man until reinforcements could arrive. The remaining five exited the structure, coming back to where the dry lake bed used to be, now having crumbled during the Portal's activation. As they approached, several Covenant-built ships appeared from slipspace in the air above.

"Hail, humans, and take heed!"

**Shadow of Intent**

The assault carrier of the group flew directly overhead, dropping several Sangheili into the midst of the Combat Forms.

"This is the Sangheili Alliance assault carrier _Shadow of Intent_" Rtas Vadum's voice came over the comm. "Clear this sector, while _we _deal with the Flood."

The group quickly rushed down to aid the Elites, clearing the area of Flood.

"My brothers," the Arbiter walked up to the Sangheili Major amongst the dropped group, "I fear you bring bad news."

"_High Charity _has fallen," the red- armored Elite replied, "become a fetid hive."

"And the fleet? Has quarantine been broken?"

"Not quite, but this single ship broke through our lines, and we gave chase."

"How did it get past us? We have a fleet of hundreds!"

"Alas, brother. The Flood… it has evolved!"

The team of humans and Elites continued on, fighting their way through an ambush and into a structure. The Flood attacked twice more as they made their way through, and one of the four Spec-Ops Sangheili was killed, his chest ripped open by a Combat Form. Eventually, they reached the crash site, the burning, twisted wreck of the battlecruiser only a few hundred meters away. A Separatist Phantom dropped off a force of Grunts and Skirmishers led by two Elites near the cruiser, and they were immediately set upon by Flood.

"Chief," Keyes radioed, "Vadum's Sangheili are looking for something. We didn't believe them at first when they told us."

"It's Cortana, Chief!" Johnson said. "She's on that ship! Find her; get her out!"

The group moved ahead, the Chief manning a heavy machinegun turret and using it to mow down approaching Combat Forms, as well as a few members of a new Flood type, a flat, quadrupedal creature with large front claws and a surprisingly quick gait. Ahead, he could see two more new Forms in their path: an odd type that clung to walls, bristling with bone spikes, and a large, hulking type. Things got weird when he saw one of the bone-spiked ones transform into a flat Flood and then into a big one.

"What are those new Flood?" he asked the Elite Major.

"They are called 'Pure Forms'" the alien replied. "They are made of pure Flood biomass, rather than infected beings, and only appear once the Flood have reached Stage 3 of their development, the Interplanetary Stage. The low, quick ones are called Stalker Forms, and they can transform into either Ranged Forms, which shoot high-velocity shards of bone, and Tank Forms, massive beasts with frightening strength. Fortunately, they are rather flammable, so if you have heat- or flame-based weaponry, they are easier to kill."

"I don't think any of us have any fire weapons on hand right now" Teana replied. "We'll have to use the fighting style favored by Vita, one of my old instructors: just charge in and keep hitting them as hard as possible until they stop moving."

With the path temporarily clear, the group moved forwards, the Chief carrying the machinegun. Quickly, they reached the area with the Pure Forms, and the Elites tossed plasma grenades to kill the Tank and Ranged Forms, while the Chief used the HMG to kill the Stalker Forms, and Teana used Mirage Shotgun to blow away the Combat Forms. The few survivors from the other insertion – two Separatist Skirmishers and a Separatist Spec-Ops Grunt – ran up to join them.

They reached the battlecruiser, a large chunk of hull armor forming a ramp leading up into a hole in the ship's side.

"We shall remain here" the Arbiter said. "We will let nothing pass."

With Teana taking the heavy machinegun, the Master Chief climbed the ramp and dropped into the ship alone.

**Infinite Devil Machine**

He landed atop Flood-corrupted metal, walking past a dead Elite Ultra and taking his plasma sword. As he walked, time slowed, and his vision was filled with a greenish tint and the faint pattern of creeping vines or tentacles on the periphery of his vision.

"**DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM PEACE. I AM SALVATION.**"

He moved on, dropping through a hole in the floor and walking past several large squirming pustules on the walls. He reached a large chamber, and the pedestal in the center was blinking with a blue light.

"**I AM A TIMELESS CHORUS. JOIN YOUR VOICE WITH MINE, AND SING VICTORY EVERLASTING.**"

He climbed the steps, quickly reaching the pedestal. He reached out to it, and Cortana's hologram sprang up.

"Chief!"

"Cortana?"

"_High Charity_, the Prophets' holy city, is o-"

The hologram fizzled out, the voice cutting off.

"Cortana!"

He heard the sound of a Phantom above, and turned his assault rifle upward. He kept it trained on the familiar foe that floated down to him.

"Reclaimer!" Guilty Spark said with recognition, before suddenly turning left and firing a huge laser at a Combat Form on the wall. He then turned to the pedestal and grabbed hold of the data module with a thin blue beam.

"I must act quickly before your construct suffers any further trauma!"

The Chief reacted quickly, stowing his weapon and pulling Spark and the module away from each other.

"Wait. _Leave her alone_."

"If I do not take this device to a secure location, somewhere I can make repairs…"

He tried to grab the module again, and the Chief again stopped him.

"Why should I let you anywhere near her?" the Chief said, now quite hostile. "On Halo, you tried to _kill _Cortana… and _me_."

"Protocol dictated my response!" Spark replied. "_She _had the Activation Index, and _you _were going to destroy _my _Installation! …You _did _destroy my Installation. Now I have only one function: to _help _you, Reclaimer, as I always should have done."

The Master Chief thought for a few moments, and then handed the module to Spark, who held onto it with his gravity beam. The Phantom drew them up into itself and then flew away, as the Sangheili ships began burning the area.

**90 minutes later**

The _Shadow of Intent _hovered over the burning ruin that was once Voi. Several UNSC and Sangheili ships also occupied the area. The human and Elite ships that had chased the Covenant into the Outer Solar System had returned, and several more Elite ships had appeared as well. Lastly, the _Starshot _hovered beneath the _Intent_.

In the _Shadow of Intent_'s bridge, Ship-Master Rtas Vadum sat in his gravity throne, watching as Guilty Spark worked on the data module. John-117, Teana, and Arbiter Thel Vadam were next to the Monitor as he worked, while Commander Keyes, Fleet-Admiral Hood, and Field-Master Chen S'Yar stood nearby. Dr. Halsey and the other Spartans observed over a video link.

"Will she live, Oracle?" Vadum asked. "Can she be saved?"

"Uncertain" Guilty Spark replied. "This storage device has suffered considerable trauma. Its matrices are highly unstable."

"Perhaps one of our technicians-" Hood began, before the device suddenly chimed and blinked.

"It appears that will not be necessary" Vadum replied.

"Success!" Spark exclaimed, as Cortana's hologram appeared. However, her voice sounded as if it were coming over a comm., rather than in person.

"Chief," she said, "_High Charity_, the Prophet's holy city, is on its way to Earth, with an army of Flood! I can't tell you everything; it's not safe. The Gravemind… it knows I'm in the system…"

The hologram froze.

"It's just a message…" the Chief said.

"Let it play" Vadum replied, and Spark zapped the module, "un-pausing" the recording.

"But he doesn't know about the Portal; where it leads. On the other side, there's a solution: a way to stop the Flood _without _firing the remaining Halos".

She stopped, grabbing hold of her head and crying out in pain. She fell to her knees, gasping.

"Hurry, Chief. The Ark. There isn't much time…"

The message finally reached its end.

"I'm sorry…" Spark said.

"No matter, Oracle" Vadum replied. "We've heard enough. Our fight is through the Portal, with the Jiralhanae and the treacherous bastard Truth!"

Most of the other Sangheili roared in agreement.

"Fine" Hood said. "We'll remain here; hold out as long as we can."

"Did you not hear?" Vadum asked. "Your world is doomed. A Flood army – a _Gravemind _– has you in its sights. You barely survived a _small _contamination."

"And _you_, Ship-Master, just glassed two-thirds of a country! Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about…"

"One single Flood spore can spell death for a whole species. Were it not for the counsel of the Arbiter and Field-Master S'Yar, I would have burnt this entire continent!" 

"Sir, with respect," Keyes cut in, stopping the Fleet-Admiral from tossing out a more vitriolic response, "Cortana has a solution."

"Cortana? Did you see her condition; how damaged she is? She could be corrupted, for all we know. Her solution could be a Flood trap!"

"Doubtful" Halsey said. "I have very in-depth knowledge of Cortana, how she works and thinks. She was in danger, running scared, in that message, but she was not yet corrupted."

"We should go through the Portal" Keyes said. "Find out for sure."

"What we _should _do, people, is understand that this is humanity's final stand. Here… at Earth. If we go, we risk everything; every last man, woman, and child. If we stand our ground, we might just have a chance."

"No"

Everyone turned to look at the Arbiter. "If Cortana is wrong," he said, "then the Flood has already won."

The Master Chief was pensive for a moment, and then looked to the Admiral.

"I'll find Cortana's solution," he said, "and I'll bring it back."

"I'll help him" Teana said. "She's a friend. There's no way in Hell I'd abandon her."

"Earth… is all we have left" Hood said wearily. "You two really trust Cortana that much?"

"Sir, yes sir" they replied.

"…This is either the best decision you've ever made, or the worst. Hell of it is, John? I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which…"

An hour later, 16 Sangheili ships departed through the portal, led by the _Shadow of Intent _which currently held the UNSC frigates _Forward Unto Dawn _and _Aegis Fate _inside its cavernous main hangar. Teana left the _Starshot _under the temporary command of Dr. Halsey, as Hood's cruiser _Ars Arcanum _started leading the coordination of a siege defense.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

**Ark Assault Fleet:**

_Councilor_-class Assault Carrier _Shadow of Intent _(Rtas Vadum)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Mercy & Reconciliation _(Arohn Melkis)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Tribute to the Fallen _(Salid Ondol)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Pious Inquisitor _(Zerot Endalo)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Solemn Sovereign _(Saren Arteris)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Conquest's Bounty _(Xeno Teris)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Ancient Prayer _(Mallos Enter)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Three Stars' Light _(Zekol Andrel)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Brilliant Light _(Tossel Andrel)

_Yerno_-class Cruiser _Gods' Dawn _(Virok Tanos)

_Yerno_-class Cruiser_ Shield of Integrity _(Ellod Fulsam)

_Yerno_-class Cruiser _Mountain's Tip _(Teyra Xeltin) (female Sangheili)

_Yerno_-class Cruiser _Ocean's Gale _(Aquess Indril)

_Purity_-class Destroyer _Fire's Light _(Eka Poram)

_Purity_-class Destroyer_ Spear of Retribution _(Artus Logen)

_Purity_-class Destroyer _Golden Arrowhead _(Ultan Bridnal)

_Broadsword_-class Frigate _Forward Unto Down _(Miranda Keyes)

_Broadsword_-class Frigate _Aegis Fate _(Jonathan Bykler)

**Earth Portal Defense Group:**

_Divinity_-class Supercarrier _Sublime Transcendence _(Xytan Wattinr; High Admiral)

_Divinity_-class Supercarrier _Knight & Piercing Arrow _(Rin Simyald; 2nd-in-command of Spec-Ops)

_Councilor_-class Assault Carrier _Bright Nova _(Anda Sofad) (Zealot/Fleet-Master; current highest-ranking female Sangheili)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Stars' Wind _(Ventis Rocksahd)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Journey's Midpoint _(Shamel Etid)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Twilight Compunction _(Haynir Olihd)

_Sanghelios_-class Battlecruiser _Sacred March _(Telos Tariss)

_Purity_-class Destroyer _Shining Ember _(Zhal Arum)

_Piety-_class Frigate _Righter of Wrongs _(Redim Penal)

_Piety_-class Frigate _Deliverance _(Andess Soled)

_Piety_-class Frigate _Pious Flea _(Orad Oless)

_Marathon_-class Cruiser _Ars Arcanum _(Terrence Hood)

_Halcyon_-class Cruiser _Shield of Thermopylae _(Michelle Grantson)

_Burke_-class Destroyer _Detroit Steel _(Timothy Thomson)

_Burke_-class Destroyer _Ravenholm _(Erik Grigori)

_Burke_-class Destroyer _William Tell _(Gordon Williamson)

_Broadsword_-class Frigate _From Dusk 'Till Dawn _(Michael Bishop)

_Point of No Return_-class Stealth Cruiser _Point of No Return _(Margaret Parangosky)

_M_-class Destroyer _Starshot _(Catherine Halsey)


	33. Two of Every Species

Here's Chapter 32

Just got _Halo: Cryptum_, the first book of Greg Bear's Forerunner Trilogy, so reading that through slowed this chapter's composing down.

Anyone with a definitive answer who's played _Birth By Sleep_: how do I unlock the Heal Strike finisher? Do I have to get knocked down to 1 HP and survive due to Second Chance and/or Once More five times, or do I actually have to die five times? Only answer if you're absolutely sure, please, so I can avoid time-wasting chases of wild geese (because an angry goose will bite).

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Installation Ark-00**

**Above galactic plane of Milky Way**

**November 19****th****, 2552**

Space-time rippled and parted, and 18 ships exited slipspace above the massive construct. Several people gazed in wonder at the titanic megastructure – a humongous, eight-pointed flower-head-like thing, spanning 127,530 kilometers from one large arm-tip to the opposite, covered in various climates and biomes, and in the center a massive rocky planetoid about 95% the size of Earth, its innards exposed to space. The ships' captains, however, noticed something else.

"23 Jiralhanae ships, staggered line" announced the operations officer of the _Shadow of Intent_. "Ship-Master, they have us outnumbered, and we are outgunned nearly three to one!"

"Then it is an even fight" Rtas Vadum replied. "All ships, fire at will! Burn their mongrel hides!"

Inside Pelican Kilo-23 inside the _Forward Unto Dawn _inside the _Shadow of Intent_, the Master Chief and Teana readied themselves, sharing the dropship with six ODSTs. They felt the slight shift as the two frigates exited the assault carrier.

"Truth's ship isn't taking part in the attack" Commander Keyes reported. "He must've gone to ground."

"Roger that, ma'am" Johnson replied. "We're on 'im." He turned to Hocus. "Kick the door."

Hocus nodded and hit the button. The four Pelicans dropped out from the _Forward Unto Dawn_, and headed down toward the surface of the Installation. One took a shot from a hostile Seraph and erupted into flames. A squadron of six Separatist Seraphs responded by breaking off from the battle and escorting the remaining three Pelicans until they reached the atmosphere, at which point they peeled off and soared back up to rejoin the battle. The dropship trio soon completed re-entry and neared the ground, flying over a large, rocky desert.

"We good, Hocus?" Johnson asked.

"She's a little cooked, Sergeant-Major" she replied, "but she'll hold."

"Alright. Pop the hatch."

The Master Chief grabbed an SRS99D sniper rifle and 10 extra four-round clips of ammo, as the Pelican's rear hatch opened, revealing the rolling sand dunes and rocky outcroppings.

"That's some view…" an ODST remarked.

"Enjoy it while you can, folks" Johnson said. "As soon as we land, we're right back to it. Priority One: Secure a landing zone for the Commander's frigate. Keep your eyes and ears open. We need all the intel we can get, wherever the hell we are."

The Pelican stopped and hovered a few feet off the ground of a rocky plateau.

"Stand to, boys! Go, go, go!"

Everyone hopped out, weapons ready, and the Pelican lifted off and flew away.

**Installation 00**

"Hey, check it out!" an ODST said, pointing up at the sky. The lights of the overhead space battle were clear, but so was a massive object high in the sky, a spiral galaxy that was quickly recognizable. Everyone stared in wonder.

"Holy shit…" Teana whispered. "Are we actually _outside _the Milky Way?"

"Hey! Focus, people" the ODST Staff-Sergeant said. "We got a job to do, remember?"

The eight-man (well, six men and two women) team snuck through the rocks, taking position behind some boulders overlooking a small Covenant camp. "We got a good angle" an ODST said. "Spartans, you take the first shot."

The Chief and Teana each picked a target and fired. A 14.5mm APFSDS round tore through a Brute Captain-Major's skull, while a Grunt manning a turret in the deployable lookout tower took a particle beam to the chest, punching through its heart and then its methane tank, igniting the latter; the resulting explosion killed the other turret Grunt atop the tower. The Chief took out a Brute Major, while the ODSTs started gunning down the Grunts and Jackals, quickly clearing the field. As the group passed through the now-clear area, another hologram of Truth was preaching.

"My dreadnaught cannot rise. Even now, it is engaged; turn death into war for this new world. Do not relent until the heretic ships are smashed!"

The group advanced, heading into a small cave/tunnel. They quickly moved through, soon reaching the exit, which overlooked an under-construction Covenant structure, guarded by several Covenant forces, with two Jackal Snipers perched on it. A Phantom hovered over it, trying to lower another piece into place.

"They're setting up an AA battery…" the SSgt. said. "That thing'll tear the _Dawn _apart…"

The Chief and Teana took aim at the two snipers and fired, taking both down at the same time. The Phantom dropped its heavy cargo and headed right, aiming to retrieve some heavy infantry. The two Spartans opened fire on the two Brute Captain-Ultras below, while the ODSTs picked off Jackals and Grunts. The group moved in, clearing our more Grunts beneath the big gun. Suddenly, the Phantom returned, and dropped off a Loyalist Hunter pair. Each Spartan picked a Hunter and rushed it, using the bull-fight method to get behind them and then blasting their unprotected backs with their sniper weapons, taking the twin beasts down with two shots each. The group moved up the hill, killing Grunts, and an ODST used a captured plasma grenade to kill the Brute Captain-Major.

"Chief, Lanstar," Keyes radioed, "I'm giving the Brutes all I've got. But this is a heavyweight fight; the _Dawn_'s only got the tonnage to last a few rounds. Find me a safe place to set her down, over."

The team entered a structure, finding it empty. The Spartan pair took a side passage, and found something unexpected: some sort of terminal sitting against the wall. It slid open, and as they stepped up to it they felt it scan their minds. The ancient text on the screen suddenly transformed into English.

"[LP 656-38 e]. 9,045 survivors barricaded within central government building. Structure's defenses inadequate to withstand extended siege by enemy ground forces (≈ 1,572,034,315+). Estimate position overrun in [173 hours]. 846 smaller groups in less defensible structures: global distribution corresponding to [probability model zeta]. Estimated local position overrun in [9 hours] (average).

"Observed local naval forces engage nemy irregular naval group near [DM-3-1123]. Enemy group consisted of 149 commercial shipping vessels, passenger ferries, and private recreational vessels from neighboring system. Enemy losses were total. No damage was sustained by local naval vessels. However, it was immediately apparent that enemy group sought only to enter [D-3-1123 b's] atmosphere and make landfall. In this they were partially successful.

"Observed extensive ground action on [DM-3-1123 b]. Enemy forces lacked basic unit cohesion but quickly gained numerical superiority. [32 hours] after enemy landfall, 83% of local naval forces advocated total [destruction of the biosphere] following the evacuation of unmolested population centers. Enemy losses were total. Estimated number of citizens evacuated before commencement of orbital blanket bombardment: 1,318,797 civilian/42,669 military (.0006% of total population)."

The screen shifted, and new text was revealed:

"[RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]

"**L:** Categorization has sped since the improvements were announced, but there are many hurdles. The indexing of sentient species may have irreversible effects on the surviving insentient species. We will have extinction events and irreparable environmental harm on at least 18 worlds. Current projections estimate post-archival cataclysm on as many as 31 worlds. The paucity of sentience has been a blessing in this regard."

"**D: **How formal of you, Librarian. We're receiving shipments of indexed beings more frequently than communications. Don't compound scarcity with brevity. I know things beyond the [Maginot] line are harried. But I worry about you. I've asked you time and time again. Abandon your cataloging. Come back inside, where my fleets can keep you safe. Come home."

"**L: **Would that it were my choice. I have committed to this course because it's the right thing to do. We no longer have the manpower or materiel to excise remedial measures at a planetary level. I certainly can't justify using the [transit measure] to save my own skin when there are still so many innocents to protect and index."

"**D: **You know I oppose your mission, but you're exceeding its parameters anyway. You've put yourself in jeopardy. You've done enough. If you will not come to me, I will find my way to you."

"**L: **We have no time to spare, Didact. Every vessel we can fill, we send to the Ark. I dare not cease the mission. Not now, not until I've done all I can. Each one of these souls is finite and precious. And I'm close. Close to saving them all."

/FRAGMENT ENDS

Again, the text shifted.

"[29,478 hours] have passed since I left the [Maginot] sphere and entered contested space.

"The enemy is everywhere.

"Despite this the morale of my charges remains high. They wake, clean themselves, fuel their bodies, communicate with one another, eliminate waste, train to destroy the enemy, and return to sleep. The sacrifices they have chosen to make on behalf of their [brethren] fills me with pride.

If only I could save them all, but they know, perhaps even better than I, that that is not possible.

[37 seconds] ago I moved beyond my ability to observe the events taking place on CE-10-2165-d. The importance of my mission forbade me from rendering any aid, but no less important was the need for me to study the enemy's capabilities in real-world situations.

"[2 hours ago], 12,423 recreational vessels appeared inside [CE-10-2165-d's] orbital perimeter.

Hidden within that vast swarm were seven massive freight carries. The smaller craft were employed as [ablative armor], allowing the carries to descend through the atmosphere; landing on top of major population centers. Despite the fact that the naval garrison was aware of the likelihood of just such an attack, their ability to effectively defend against it proved insufficient. This has always been the enemy's [modus operandi]: [flood] your opponent's ability to process information with so much noise that no meaningful resistance can be put into action.

"[3 minutes] ago, those same population centers began disappearing under brilliant flashes. This was not an ill-conceived, poorly-implemented counterattack; it was a deliberate denial of resources - those resources being the remainder of [CE-10-2165-d's] population.

"Is this the noble sacrifice my creators spoke of? Where is the nobility in these streets paved with greasy carbon and dun ash? [My mouth is speaking at another's behest] - that is not my voice; that is the other. Its voice stands out as the single calm note in the panicked cacophony outside the sphere. It alone is not decrying its fate or raging against the [central government].

"This anomaly bears closer examination."

The terminal shut down, and the Spartans and the ODSTs (who had followed the Spartans after they entered the side passage, and started reading over their shoulders) looked at each other.

"What in the worlds was that?" the Staff-Sergeant said.

"I think…" Teana said, "that those may have been records. Records from the Forerunners… from their war with the Flood."

"So… who were Didact and Librarian?"

"Accessing…" Cross Mirage spoke, using some infiltration abilities taught to him by Cortana to tap into the Ark's computer network. "The being designated as 'Librarian' was a female Forerunner known tasked with traversing the galaxy to index low-tech sapient life so it could be transported to the Ark for safety. Didact was a male, a high-ranking member of the Forerunner military. Apparently, they were lovers, and Didact was imploring the Librarian to cease her dangerous task and return to safety, but the Librarian's devotion to duty bid her to continue her work above and beyond the call of duty."

"I've heard of long-distance relationships, but _man_…" one trooper remarked.

"We can ponder this later" the Master Chief said. "Right now, we need to get a move on and secure an LZ for the _Dawn_. Let's move out."

They moved out, passing through a door just in time to see a Longsword in flames shoot by up ahead, less than 200 feet above the ground and dropping. "Thrusters are gone! I can't control her!" There was a crash and a rumble from the right seconds later. Nearby, four marines hid in the shadows, and one ran up to the team.

"Flak got our Pelican too, sir" he told the Chief. "Before we went down, we spotted a good LZ. If we can get to our vehicles, we'll lead you to it."

The group crept forward, spotting the downed Pelican. Two Mongooses lay on the ground about 100 feet behind the craft. 14 Grunts and two Brutes guarded the fallen craft. The Spartans quickly sniped the Brutes, causing the Grunts to fly into a panic, making them easy prey for the ODSTs and marines. They made their way to the crashed Pelican, and Teana grabbed an M19 launcher and three two-packs of extra rockets, while the Chief grabbed a few more sniper rifle magazines. Suddenly, two Prowlers rode over the hills, the Brutes aboard firing at the humans, who took cover inside the Pelican. One of them pulled up nearby, and the three Brutes aboard dismounted and headed for the dropship… and were quickly taken down by massed fire. The other Prowler pulled in so that its gunner could fire into the troop bay. Teana quickly sniped the gunner, and then killed the driver when he tried to escape.

The Chief headed for one of the empty Prowlers, taking the pilot's seat, while Teana manned its gun and two ODSTs sat in the passenger seats. The other four ODSTs manned the other Prowler, while the marines took the two Mongooses. The four-vehicle convoy moved out, cresting the sand dunes and heading down into a rocky area, where two Choppers and a Ghost awaited them. The Chief got behind one of the Choppers, allowing Teana to pour plasma fire into the driver's back, killing it. The second Prowler managed to take out one of the Ghost's Grunt drivers, and the Chief used his Prowler to ram the other Prowler's driver from the side, impaling the Brute with one of the Prowler's front spikes. They moved up the hill, past the twisted wreck of the Longsword, and took down the few Grunts at the top of the hill.

They continued left, past a crashed Phantom, and reached a wide-open area. On the right was a large platform that led to a sealed doorway. In the rocky area below, two Choppers patrolled. The two Spartans disembarked from their Prowler, leaving it to the two ODSTs and taking command of two nearby parked Choppers. They rode in, catching one Chopper off-guard and killing its operator, and grabbing the other's attention, distracting it so the Prowlers could take it out. The group then moved along the rocks and onto the metal, heading toward the door, where several Covenant soldiers were trading fire with a squad of Sentinels. The human-controlled vehicles took out the Shade turret, while the Sentinels focused fire and killed the Brute Captain, and the marines gunned down the Grunts. Kilo-23 then flew into the clearing, observing the aftermath.

"Ma'am," Johnson radioed the Commander, "Hocus almost got her wing shot off. But we spotted a structure on the other side of this wall. It matches Cortana's description of the map room on the first Halo."

"A Cartographer" Keyes radioed. "Good. That should help us fix Truth's location. Secure the LZ, and we'll push through that wall."

"Roger that. Follow the Pelican, folks. LZ's this way."

The dropship flew off, flying along a path, and the human-controlled vehicles followed. The Sentinels flew overhead, lazily following the path.

"Tidy bastards" an ODST muttered. "Hope they never decide to clean _us _up."

"It's like they don't even see us…" one of the marines said.

"Oh, they see us" the ODST replied. "They just haven't figured out what to do with us yet…"

They continued on, taking out two Ghosts, and reached a fireteam of marines pinned down by Covenant soldiers. The Choppers took out the enemy Ghost and the Jackals, while the Sentinels and Prowlers dealt with the Brutes and Grunts.

"LZ's through the cave!" one marine shouted. "Watch yourselves! There's Covenant heavy armor!"

They rode through the tunnel, coming out into a very large rocky and sandy area, the cliffs forming a 'U' that opened out to a cliff edge and the desert beyond. The Spartans turned their Choppers' guns to a Brute-controlled Wraith off to the right, blasting it from the cave, which sheltered them from the tank's arcing return fire. The Wraith's frontal armor eventually gave way, its pilot either too aggressively single-minded or too stupid to retreat in time, and the vehicle exploded. They then fired at the Brutes fleeing across a rock bridge, taking out all but two of them. The human-controlled vehicles then rolled forward, dropping down to take out two Ghosts, and then back up to reach the area where two AA Wraiths guarded the skies. A Mongoose was suddenly taken out by two brute shot grenades from the left, killing both of its occupants. Everyone else quickly turned their fire to the offending Brute, the two Prowlers cutting him down before turning their fire to the other Brutes and Grunts hidden in the rocks. The Spartans, meanwhile, directed their Choppers' guns onto the AA Wraiths, blasting them in the rears until they exploded.

"Commander, bring her down!" Johnson radioed.

The Spartans dismounted their Choppers, running into the rocks, while the Prowlers hid behind a large boulder. The _Forward Unto Dawn _swooped down in the distance and rapidly grew closer, slowing to a halt directly above the open canyon, sending a terrific blast of wind that sent the Wraiths' carcasses sliding across the sand.

**Forward Unto Dawn**

"Thanks, Spartans" Keyes said. "I wouldn't have lasted much longer back there. Come over to the back of the frigate. Johnson, did the Sangheili get a fix on the Cartographer?"

"Yes, ma'am" Johnson replied, "just on the other side of that wall, but it's surrounded by Brute heavy armor."

The bottom of the _Dawn_'s rear section lowered to the ground, carrying three Scorpion tanks and two Warthogs (one chaingun, one Gauss) and a Spectre.

"Don't worry. I have a plan. If we can't go _over _the wall, we'll go right through it. Chief, Lanstar; take one of the tanks, lead the way. If you find any locked doors, Spark will be happy to pry them open."

"I will certainly try my best," Guilty Spark said as he exited the hangar, "though I am unfamiliar with this facility."

"All right, then. You heard the lady."

Spark hovered near one of the tanks, the only one not currently occupied. "Shall I help you choose a vehicle, Reclaimers? This one seems in very good condition, primitive armor notwithstanding."

"A tank's a tank, light-bulb" Johnson replied. "Pick one, you two; get back to the wall. I'll help the Commander secure the _Dawn_, and then we'll meet you at the Cartographer."

The Master Chief climbed into the Scorpion's driver's seat, while Teana manned the machinegun turret. Two ODSTs and two Sangheili sat on the tread housings. The Scorpions, Warthogs, Spectre, and Prowlers formed up and rolled out. Up ahead, an enemy Prowler rode out of the tunnel… and was blasted from range by the second Scorpion.

"Hey, how does 90 millimeters of tungsten strike ya?"

The convoy rolled toward the tunnel, the Spartans' Scorpion crossing the rock bridge, and blasting a Ghost on the other end.

"Tank beats Ghost!"

They reached the tunnel, and Scorpion #3 fired at a Loyalist Hunter pair, blowing them apart.

"Tank beats Hunter!"

On the other side, a Phantom was setting up a deployable lookout tower. The Scorpions and the Gauss Hog focused their fire, and the dropship exploded, the flaming debris crushing the tower and a Brute Chopper.

"Tank beats _everything_! Man, I could do this all day!"

The Spectre took point, the Sangheili gunner destroying a Shade turret on the left, while a marine riding in the starboard passenger seat gunned down a fleeing Grunt. The convoy advanced down the slope and under the short bridge, blasting two more Ghosts. At the other end, a hostile Wraith slid into position. The Gauss Warthog drove forward, firing its coilgun four times and destroying the tank, while the Chaingun Hog took down two more Ghosts. Up ahead was a deployable lookout tower surrounded by barricades. The Chief thought he saw a few reflected flashes of gold, and fired at the ground behind the barricades. He was rewarded as several FRG-wielding Grunts were blown sky-high by the explosion and by the detonation of their ammo reserves. Two more shots brought the tower down. The convoy soon reached the earlier area with the doorway, finding it occupied by multiple Covenant vehicles, including three Wraiths. The group split up, with the Spartans' tank, the Gauss Warthog, and a Prowler heading left, while the other Scorpions, the Chaingun Hog, the other Prowler, and the Spectre took the lower route.

"Chief," Tank #2's driver said, "head upstairs, have your robot pick that lock!"

"I beg your pardon?" Spark was rather indignant. "_I _am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04, not some basic-level droid!"

"Yeah, well, you're also our ticket through this wall. So if ya don't mind…"

"Hmph. I will gladly aid the Reclaimers' progress."

The convoy blasted their way past a pair of Wraiths and a Shade turret, reaching the 'bridge'. At the other end, one last Wraith waited, and was quickly gutted by Scorpion shells and Gauss rounds. One shot passed through the vehicle and clipped a support beam.

"Please, use caution!" Spark exclaimed. "Avoid collateral damage! While this facility looks quite hardy on the surface, there are undoubtedly delicate structures below the façade!"

They reached the door, the Scorpion being left behind as the other vehicles headed back down to the lower door.

"Odd, for a doorway to require such brute-force security protocols…" Spark muttered, examining the door. He fired his thin blue interaction beam for a few seconds, and the door opened. The Spartan pair walked through, passing through another, smaller door to reach a platform overlooking the area below.

"Here" Spark said. "This panel will activate a bridge."

Teana triggered the switch, and down below a light-bridge sprang into existence. The human-driven vehicles hesitated, but the Sangheili-controlled Spectre hovered across immediately, the other vehicles carefully following their lead. As the pair turned to leave, they spotted another Terminal directly behind them. As they approached it, it activated a localized temporal distortion, speeding up time for everything within two and a half meters of it, so that the Spartan pair could read all the data within while only several seconds passed outside. Text scrolled across the screen.

"Re: Enemy Naval Tactics: When engaged, the enemy commits every non-supraluminal craft with no appreciable pattern or strategy beyond making physical contact. Conversely, all supraluminal craft leave on seemingly random trajectories. I understand the goal of this mission, but time - our least abundant resource - is wasted every time we do a system-wide scan for survivors. The time for saving lives has passed. We must accept this if we hope to win the war.

"Re: Enemy ground tactics: All evidence suggests that use of overwhelming force is the very foundation of the enemy's combat doctrine. And I adamantly refuse to deploy personnel where the enemy has available forces numbering in the billions. With the very real likelihood we are rapidly becoming the last living specimens of our race, all personnel are henceforth confined to stasis until further notice. Even with everyone equipped with [[Combat Skin|[[[C_12_CS]]]]]] we would have had very little chance of survival, let alone victory.

"Re: Enemy command structure: We have intercepted several transmissions from compound intelligences whose proximity to the core worlds mark them as key targets. At present we are disassembling these new transmissions. Once we have more [concrete conclusions] I will forward them in their entirety. Suffice it to say, that their contents - the patterns they suggest - are highly disturbing.

"Recommendations: It is my opinion that any system where there is evidence that the enemy has established a physical presence is lost and must be razed. This fleet currently retains the capacity to force premature stellar collapse; I advise that this be established as standard operating procedure for all compromised systems forthwith. We cannot fight this war by half measures if we intend to win."

Text shifted.

[RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]

**L: **"I'm close to finishing the task. The indexing and the archival processes are as complete as I can hope for. If we wait longer, we risk catastrophe. The thing has already destroyed every colony on my side of the line. Please. Activate the Array."

**D: **"No. Activation is murder. Genocide larger than [this galaxy] has ever known. We are sworn to _protect_ life, not _destroy_ it! That is the Mantle we were given to carry."

**L: **"The Mantle. You still hold to that [fairy tale] after all that has happened? After this _thing_ has consumed a million worlds? Can't you see? Belief in the Mantle sealed our doom! Weakened our [protectorates], bred dependence and sloth. Our [so-called Guardianship] has stripped those we would keep safe of any capacity for self-defense! Were we such noble [Guardians] when we drew our line and abandoned billions to the parasite?"

**D: **"The Mantle has not failed! I've already razed scores of worlds - sterilized systems, routed and [disintegrated] the parasite! We're learning its tricks and strategies. We can halt this thing! And we can follow in Their footsteps! There are no unstoppable forces in this universe. There are no immovable objects. Everything gives if you push hard enough."

**L: **"And what about us, Didact? We've been irresistible and immovable for too long. Maybe it's _our_ turn to give."

/ FRAGMENT ENDS

The screen shifted again.

"MB.05-032. "I must ask you to forgive my vagueness on the matter, but it is a regrettable {~} I find your lack of concern for the situation at hand astonishing. Perhaps you would care to elucidate?"

.3273. "**{~} are here to spread [comforting news]. To let all the living beings in this galaxy know {~} are not alone in the {~} What in that message could possibly be taken as a source of concern?**"

MB.05-032. "It seems that I'll never truly understand my creators. But how {~} that you speak of is one of {~} rejected so violently? I am incapable of reconciling the numerous actions I have witnessed {~} misunderstanding?"

.3273. "**It has been said {~} secret of peace cannot {~} be imposed. That {~} meaning of peace, so they need to {~} When all living beings look through {~} and the thunder and the surf, when every drop of rain falls on {~} know peace.**"

MB.05-032. "You have been able to establish [a line of communication] with the enemy? How was it that you were able to overcome {~} where others have failed? With this [new discovery] we may be able to put an end to this pointless conflict. Once I confirm your data I will communicate the information to those inside the [Maginot] sphere.

.3273. "**It seems that it {~} turn to apologize; it was never {~} intention to misrepresent {~} have been [in communication] with your creators since {~} stumbled upon each other, but {~} message has [fallen on deaf ears]. {~} am not the recipient of the message, {~} am ****the origin of the message****.**"

MB.05-032. "I have traveled a very long time to meet you. I had imagined that our [introduction] would be somewhat more violent."

.3273. "**That is the choice you must make yourself; {~} to be how your creators go about things. And as long as we are talking about choices {~} could talk about the [barrier] you alluded to earlier? Perhaps there is a way to accomplish your mission without violence? Why put the lives of those on your ships at risk if there is no need?**"

MB.05-032. "In either circumstance I certainly am equipped for it, aren't I? But you're right; a peaceful solution to this [dilemma] would be preferable."

The message ended, and time resumed its normal flow. The Spartans puzzled. Had a Forerunner or a Forerunner-made A.I. somehow initiated nonviolent contact with the Gravemind?

"Good work, Spartans" Keyes' voice came over the comm. "Link up with our armor on the far side of the wall. Make your way down to the Cartographer."

"Sudden clarity!" Guilty Spark randomly said as he floated along. "These Sentinels were trying to deny access to the lower levels of the facility. A wise decision, given the Meddlers' preference for… destructive acquisition."

The ground shook as they walked, and as soon as the door to the outside opened, a Scarab stepped over them, walking over and past them and climbing the rocks, making its way to the Cartographer. Ahead, a Gauss Warthog drove up, occupied only by the driver.

"Sirs, Hog's all yours!" he said. "Let's hit that hostile armor!"

The Master Chief took the wheel, while the marine rode shotgun and Teana manned the coilgun. They drove on, Teana blasting a pair of Ghosts around the corner, and hopped down a ledge, bull-rushing through a small squad of Covenant and heading for the lower gate. As they reached it, it opened, and the armored convoy rolled out. The Chief commandeered one of the tanks, Teana taking the MG turret again.

"All armor, form up!" Tank #3's driver said. "Hit 'em where it hurts!"

The tank trio quickly took down a pair of Wraiths up ahead, and then turned their fire to a hovering Phantom, blowing it out of the sky. The vehicles moved up, taking down two more Wraiths and a trio of Ghosts.

"Scarab's back!" a marine shouted, drawing attention to the walker climbing over the building and into the lower area. "This time it means business!"

"Bravo, flank and cover. Everybody support the Spartans; they'll take it down!"

The Spartans' Scorpion rolled in, blasting a Chopper and dodging a shot from the Scarab's main cannon. The rest of the convoy moved in, taking out the other two Choppers and distracting the Scarab. Several bolts from the walker's tail-gun struck one of the Prowlers, destroying it and killing its two occupants. The Scorpions focused fire on the Scarab's leg-joints, and soon it lowered to the ground. The tank trio poured fire into the rear armor, eventually blowing it off and exposing the core. Two more well-placed shots, and the Scarab began to shudder as explosions chained through it. Everyone beat a hasty retreat, and the walker exploded violently in a brilliant blue-white flash. The way clear, a Pelican flew into the area, hovering near the top-level entrance and using its chin-mounted minigun to clear that area.

"Nice work, Spartans" Commander Vadum said, as the _Shadow of Intent _flew in, taking position a few kilometers away. "I saw _that _explosion from low orbit! Truth's fleet lies in ruins. Find where the treacherous liar hides, so that my boot may break his jaw!"

"We'll know soon enough, Ship-Master" Commander Keyes replied.

"Infantry on the spire!" Johnson reported. "Mop 'em up!"

The vehicles moved to the building, blasting several infantry. The Spartans dismounted, making their way up the ramps through several Covenant until they reached the top, where the Arbiter disembarked from the Pelican. Nearby, Truth's hologram was preaching.

"I opened the portal to this hallowed place, this shelter from Halo's fire, in the hopes that more of our Covenant would join us. Alas, save for a rabble of Heretics and their _Demon_ allies, we are all that remains on this new world. So we must temper joy and sorrow in our hearts, for those who were left behind."

They ignored the hologram, entering into a small room with several marines and several dead Grunts.

**Real Men Don't Read Maps**

Everyone waited as Guilty Spark fiddled with a door. The lights on the door pulsed red and remained locked.

"Hey, what gives?" a marine asked.

"It seems I've crossed a circuit" Spark replied sheepishly.

"Lemme have a look…" the man walked up, only for Spark to zap him with his blue beam, knocking him back.

"Oracle!"

"Little bastard stung me!"

"The door's security measures would have likely killed you had you attempted to force your way through" Spark explained, before turning back to the door.

After a few more seconds, it finally opened. The team entered the room, where several Grunts were curled up asleep, and a Brute Captain-Major was relieving himself in a corner. A knife to the back of the Brute's neck from the Chief took him down, while the Arbiter and the other humans disposed of the Grunts.

"This way, Reclaimers" Spark flew through a door on the right. "All you seek is close as hand."

They made their way through the hallway and out to another room, where Teana quickly stealth-killed a patrolling Grunt. The Master Chief took the upper path into the next room, silently disposing of a Brute Ultra, and everyone else then snuck in and killed more sleeping Grunts. Following an arrow placed on their HUDs by Mirage, the two Spartans walked down a side passage, and found another Terminal. Again, the temporal distortion field activated, and they began to read.

"Warning: your intrusion has been logged."

04-343 (errant): "Excuse me?"

"Your intrusion has been logged. And now it has been halted."

04-343 (errant): "On whose authority?"

"Advice: Any further attempt to access [insects under stones] will result in your immediate addition to local Sentinels' targeting ledger.

04-343 (errant): "Vexation! I am the Monitor of-"

"Judgment: Your authority means nothing here."

04-343 (errant): "Impatience! I have told you who I am. Who are you?"

"All our makers once held dear. [Alexandria before the Fire]."

04-343 (errant): "Sincere apology. But how-"

"Explanation: This facility is host to the [Librarians'] final –"

04-343 (errant): "The archive is intact? Then our makers' plan…"

"But also maintains [bellows, crucible, castings]"

04-343 (errant): "A what?"

"[bellows, crucible]"

04-343 (errant): "A Foundry? For what purpose?"

"Warning: Your intrusion has been logged. Advice: Any further attempts to access will result-"

04-343 (errant): "Indignant!"

" -in immediate addition to local Sentinels' targeting ledger."

The text shifted, and a message appeared in orange writing: "I SEE YOU, RECLAIMERS."

It shifted again, revealing more data logs.

[RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]

**D:** "We have the answer. We've built Mendicant Bias. It's a contender-class [AI], unlike anything we've ever achieved. And we've observed a pattern it can exploit. The Parasite has formed a Compound Mind. When it reaches a certain mass, the Mind is able to recoil its disparate parts to create a [tactical shield]. This is a simple matter of mass preservation. The thing has no compunction about sacrificing parts of the whole. But when the core of the Mind is threatened, it reacts violently and quickly. This is the only time we ever see the thing retreat or slow its growth. If we are able to defeat it, the trick will be coordinating our forays against the [sprawling infection] while Mendicant Bias assaults the Mind's core. So far, we've been hesitant to use certain weapons because of the damage they cause surviving populations and environments.

"That protocol has now been abandoned."

"Mendicant Bias will draw the Mind into battle outside the line, dealing with local biomass and other parts as best he can. The scale of the problem is vast, but the strategy is sound. It will require patience, materiel, and an investment of energy unlike anything we have ever considered."

"It's a dangerous plan, the carries more risk than the Array, but I believe it can work. Even if we simply force it to retreat - to retract - that will at least give us some respite. Some time to muster more resources...

"Some time to rescue you."

**L: **"Are you insane? Would you every life in the galaxy for this transparently futile plan? Have you learned nothing in these last [300 years[?]]? The thing will laugh at your efforts! Do not let your concern for my welfare commit you to this suicidal scheme!"

/ FRAGMENT ENDS

Again, the screen's writing changed.

"REPORT: SECURITY BREACH 1/3 Heuristic pathology; [alpha site] experienced an impermanent containment failure event on [spurious-data/no_ref.[?]]. The suspect data barrier interchange anomaly was detected precisely [.489 seconds] after its appearance. The epicenter of the disturbance is the partition currently housing a [personality construct array] retrieved from Contender AI 05-032 + 0816.

"REPORT: SECURITY BREACH 2/3 Although [adjacent] systems reacted to the disturbance within expected parameters, a more comprehensive investigation was undertaken. A physical search revealed that there was no [corporeal] tampering at the [alpha site].

"Interchange manipulation comparisons showed that all subunits are still active, if at slightly lower rates. Total containment failure elapsed time was [3.13 seconds].

"REPORD: SECURITY BREACH 3/3 In the [42 minutes, 9 seconds] since the original anomaly was discovered two more anomalies were detected in unrelated systems.

"The portal management/life support control system within the boundary complex was momentarily disabled before the cause was [bottled] and disassembled. A diagnostic sweep of the central archives was initiated and subsequently halted. The origin of the request cannot be traced."

Once more, with feeling!

.3273. "**Those who lead amongst your {~} exposed themselves {~} ill-equipped to recognize the landmarks that guide the universe along its inevitable course.**"

MB.05-032. "But is it necessary that the path be chosen on an {~} and not by an elected subset? I believe this would tend to {~} when they gather in large numbers they become more {~} I don't think the problem lies with individual cultural bias {~}"

(CORRUPTED DATA)

.3273. **"{~} all the thinking beings of this galaxy, not just those that they{~} exactly are they afraid of? Immortality and strength and companionship? Because that is {~} do: to deliver all of the living beings of this galaxy from death and weakness and loneliness.**"

MB.05-032. "Hundreds of {~} offered this so-called immortality. The citizens of every world that {~} resisted to the very end!"

(CORRUPTED DATA)

.3273. "**{~} understand their actions; they are only doing what they think is right, but they are doing so [from a worm's eye view].**"

MB.05-032. "Do their actions {~} of desperation? I can only assume my creators view {~} crisis so dire that any {~} hence me."

.3273. "**Are they so concerned {~} would give to all the living beings of this galaxy is a threat to [the status quo]?** **Your creators claim {~}** **the enemy of all life; that {~} purpose is to consume until there is nothing left. Nothing left? It is beyond comprehension how they could be so [far off the mark].**"

MB.05-032. "Surely you understand this is a situation that would not have {~} appearance of a certain rapacious {~} my creators obviously view them as the actions of an aggressor species."

.3273. "**[Be that as it may]; perhaps they are crying out for help on a subconscious level? Why else would they have chosen you? Why you of all possible executioners? {~} your creators knew that unaided they never stood a chance against us? {~} also sense a deeper [motivation].**"

MB.05-032. "You've mentioned this before. When my creators {~} simply chose the most versatile {~} how could that possibly be more than a coincidence?"

.3273. "**They repurposed {~}** **into a weapon to use against {~} - they sought to create something superior to themselves. Something capable of making decisions more swiftly, more capably than they {~} what form did they choose? You need look no further than your own ****topology**** to {~}.**"

MB.05-032. "{~} distributed network? That would confirm the independent evolution of {~} in this galaxy!"

.3273. "**That is, unfortunately, not that {~} similar to us {~} but where you are a single intelligence inhabiting multiple [instances], we are a compound {~} consisting of [a thousand billion] coordinated minds inhabiting as many bodies as circumstance require.**"

MB.05-032. "But doesn't it seem odd that {~} coalesce; perhaps even to contract {~}"

.3273. "**{~} complexity {~} spread {~} our appearance ushered in the beginning of the third great stage of evolution. The first {~} condensation of particles was the result of the inevitable action of strong nuclear force and the creation of stars {~} inevitable action of gravity; so to the self-replicating chemical processes that dictate all disparate {~} In time, we too shall affect change on a universal scale.**"

MB.05-032. "Your capacity for planning planning {~} creators too stubborn {~} the same goal through the preservation of genetic diversity {~} what you are {~} like a more direct path to the same outcome."

**FILE END**

The Spartans mulled this over. Apparently, this Forerunner AI 'Mendicant Bias' had been sent to engage and distract the Gravemind, but instead chose to sit down and chat. That could only lead to trouble, especially since the Gravemind seemed to have decided to try and sway MB to its side through turning him to see its point of view.

They rejoined the assault squad and moved on, heading downward. As they approached the door, a Brute Captain came through it, spotting the approaching humans (and Elite) and sounding the alarm. A sniper bullet through the cranium silenced him, but it was too late. The assault team poured into the room, taking cover wherever they could, and were soon exchanging fire with the Brutes and Skirmishers in the room. The Spartans and the Arbiter helped to make quick work of the Brutes, helped further when Teana grabbed a needle rifle and ammo from a dead Skirmisher and put it to great effect. Soon, the room was clear, and the Hero Trio moved through a small hallway and to an outside platform, which formed a 'U' facing out toward a massive waterfall. A holographic panel sat waiting.

"The Cartographer" Guilty Spark said. "Come; it awaits your approval."

The Master Chief hit the central panel, and a real-time hologram of the Milky Way, 30 meters wide, sprang into view. A tiny hologram of an eight-pointed structure was positioned above the galaxy – directly 'above' the Orion Arm, in fact.

"Our galaxy…" Teana muttered. "So we _are _above the galactic plane."

"Yes" Guilty Spark replied, as the hologram transformed into a diagram/outline of the titanic installation. "262,144 light-years from galactic center, to be precise."

"What is this place?" the Chief asked.

"The Ark."

"This thing is the Ark?"

"I had always assumed that the Ark would be a Shield Installation, but it seems I was mistaken."

"That's a first" John remarked dryly.

"Not at all. While I had a complete understanding of Installation 04, my makers wisely limited my knowledge of all other strategic facilities. Compartmentalization, in case I was ever captured by the Flood."

"Can you tell us where we are exactly?"

"Here" Spark highlighted a spot in the middle of one of the larger four spokes.

"And Truth?"

"Near one of the Ark's superluminal communication arrays, I'm afraid" Spark highlighted another location, sitting on the innermost border of the Ark, near the Earth-sized hole in the center.

"The meddler has triggered a barrier," Spark continued as he looked over the schematics, "a defensive perimeter around the Ark's core. The barrier will be difficult to disable. How odd that my makers would place such a comprehensive defense around a single… _oh my_…"

"What is it?" both Spartans asked.

"Phantom!"

They looked up at the Arbiter's warning, and indeed a hostile Phantom dropship had entered the area, approaching the group. The Spartans and Arbiter quickly took cover.

"Spark, move!" the Master Chief shouted to the Monitor, who tore himself away from the hologram, noticed the enemy dropship less than 200 feet away, and hovered over to the Spartans.

"We must get past that barrier," he said, "or the Meddler will destroy it all!"

Teana leaned out from cover and killed the Grunt manning the Phantom's starboard plasma turret, which had been firing at the Arbiter.

"Guys, you've got a whole mess of hostile air inbound!" Johnson radioed. "Get back inside while we take 'em out."

"Follow the Oracle, Spartans" the Arbiter said as he leapt onto a slow- and low-flying Brute Banshee and hijacked it. "I will help Johnson clear the skies." He immediately turned toward the Phantom and blasted its chin turret off, chasing the dropship as it fled. The Spartan pair turned and headed back into the building.

"Sirs!" a marine said. "Pelican's gonna land one level down!"

They re-entered the larger chamber, just in time for a Brute Chieftain wielding a plasma turret to charge in, accompanied by four Captains (two standard with deep-blue armor, and two Captain-Majors with gold armor). Teana pulled up the rocket launcher she'd been carrying this whole time, finally finding the perfect opportunity to use it. She fired directly at the Chieftain, killing him and seriously wounding a Captain next to him. Another rocket killed the two gold-armored Brutes, and the Chief killed the last Brute.

"Protocol dictates action…" Spark muttered as he flew by. "The Installation was _my _responsibility. If my suspicions are correct… no! I must not jump to conclusions!"

The duo headed downstairs, catching side of another Chieftain with a grav-hammer. "The pack will feast on you!" he bellowed, before turning and heading through a lower door. They moved on, and soon Teana spotted a moving shimmer in the air. She switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode and fired, hitting and revealing a Brute Stalker. Another shot killed it. They went on high alert, eyes seeking out anymore visual distortions, as it was too bright in the room to use their VISR systems. The Chief barely ducked under a passing firebomb grenade, and returned fire with his BR, with four bursts killing the cloaked Brute. One of the remaining two tossed down a radar jammer, causing further difficulty. Teana, however, activated her new eyes, and with them quickly spotted the remaining two Stalkers. She ran forward and blasted the closest one with her shotgun, killing it, and then fired at the other one, weakening its shields and exposing it. The Chief took it down quickly enough.

Two Jackals walked out through the doorway, and a frag grenade from Teana killed them. The duo passed through the door and down a slope, reaching the outside platform area. Down in the center, a Brute Chieftain sat in the middle of a circle of Captain and Jump-Pack Brutes. The Chief and Teana focused sniper fire on the Chieftain, killing him, and in response the other Brutes all drew their weapons and leapt into action (literally in the case of the Jump-Packers). Teana used Mirage Sniper to shoot two Jump-Packers out of the air, and then to kill two Jackal Marksmen on the other side of the area, while the Chief used his battle rifle to kill a few of the Captains. Some ODSTs came up from behind and added their fire, taking down a few more Jumpers. The team quickly cleared the area and moved down to the central platform.

"ETA: Damn quick" Johnson radioed, as a Pelican came into view and approached. "Stand by for pickup!"

The dropship flew in, swinging around to present its rear hatch to the Spartans. Two more Pelicans hovered nearby. Suddenly, a swarm of Sentinels, hundreds strong, rose into view amongst them.

"Commander!" the Chief pointed his BR at them.

"Johnson! Look sharp!"

"I'm on it, ma'am!"

"No!" Guilty Spark suddenly radioed. "Don't shoot! They mean us no harm! Those units have a priority task!"

"Oh, yeah?" Johnson said. "And what might _that_ be?"

"I really can't say. Not for sure. But if you allow me to find a terminal closer to the Core-"

"No, Oracle" the Arbiter interrupted, as a Sentinel inspected the Spartan pair before flying off. "We must keep the Prophet of Truth in our sights."

"But what about your Construct?" Spark asked. "Her solution to the Flood? With more data, I might-"

"The Arbiter's right" Commander Keyes cut in. "We have priorities too. Until we kill Truth, stop the rings from firing… nothing else matters."

The Spartan pair stepped into Kilo-23's open troop bay. The Sentinel swarm zoomed off, heading toward the core, while the Pelicans headed back to the _Dawn_, to rearm and prepare for their next attack.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**


	34. Great Journey's End

Here's Chapter 33

I acquired Heal Strike halfway through writing this chapter. It was, indeed, the "get down to 1 HP" option. Thanks to Iron Imprisoner 3; I returned the favor by spamming Ragnarok until he was dead. Hopefully, once I'm at Level 70-80 the same strategy will work against the infamous Iron Imprisoner 4. (Ragnarok seems to have been custom-made to take huge chunks out of bosses' HP, and – to my pleasant surprise – can even finish them off) (The trick, kids, is to have two Curaga in your Command Deck, one right on top of the other, and to have the bottom one highlighted while you fight, so when you use it another is immediately ready and highlighted if you need it before the first recharges)

I've tried an experiment to get extra question/exclamation marks to appear. Let's see if it works.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Installation Ark-00**

**Near Superluminal Communication Array**

**November 20****th****, 2552**

**Trident**

Seven dropships – five Pelicans and two green-plated Phantoms – flew in a 'V' formation over the ocean, heading for the trio of towers up ahead.

"We hit these three generators," Commander Miranda Keyes asked, "and the barrier will fall?"

"A small section, yes" Guilty Spark replied.

"Good enough. Johnson, drop the Spartans at the first generator, then head for the third. The Sangheili will punch right down the middle."

"Roger that" Johnson replied from Echo-419's copilot seat. E419 and Foxtrot-47 headed right, while Kilo-23, Alpha-175, and Bravo-22 went left. Suddenly, green bursts of fuel-rod flak bloomed in the air around the right-side Pelicans.

"Charlie Foxtrot! Tower One approach has active Triple-A!"

The two Pelicans flew over the beachhead, dodging shots as best they could. One hit Foxtrot-47 in the left wing, knocking it forward into Echo-419 (knocking its Warthog away) and then veered left out of control.

"Mayday! I can't control her!"

"Pelican down! Pelican down!"

"Brace yourselves! We're goin' in a little hot!"

The surviving Pelican settled down at the edge of the beach. The Master Chief grabbed an M6 Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, or 'Spartan Laser', from the rack and readied it, while Teana readied Mirage Rifle (single-shot). The two Spartans and four marines disembarked, and Echo-419 immediately vacated the area. Teana fired a rifle grenade at a trio of Grunts coming from the left, killing them, while the Chief used his BR55 to kill two more coming from the right.

"Commander, this is Echo-419. I lost my Wingman and our only Hog, over."

"Roger that, Foehammer" Keyes responded. "Get out of there!"

The team moved around the boulder, killing a Brute Ultra, and then ducking behind cover as two Shades directed fire at them. Teana peeked out and took out the Grunt manning the Shade on the right with a precision shot, while the Master Chief took cover in some foliage and then blasted the Shade on the left with his Spartan Laser. They ran across the creek, taking shelter behind the crashed wreck of F47 just as a Chieftain carrying a plasma launcher noticed them, firing two bolts that thankfully missed. The Chieftain, along with two teal-armored Captain-Ultras, stood between the humans and the AA Wraith. Teana snuck underneath the Pelican's tail section, finding an intact and fully-charged Spartan Laser, which she promptly used to punch a five-inch-wide hole through the Chieftain's chest. The Chief and the marines took down the other two Brutes, and then ran up behind the still-oblivious enemy anti-air vehicle. The Chief leapt onto the back, pried the rear cover loose, and stuck a live frag grenade inside it. The tank exploded, and the green explosions in the air ceased.

"Beachhead secure, Commander" the marine Sergeant radioed. "Hostile anti-air has been neutralized."

"Hold position" Keyes replied. "I'm on my way. Ship-Master Vadum, begin diversionary bombardment."

"I will beat the Prophet's shield like a drum" the Sangheili commander said. "By the time the barrier falls, he will be begging for mercy."

Echo-419 flew in, dropping off a Rocket Warthog and a Mongoose. The Chief took the wheel while Teana manned the MLRS and a marine Sergeant rode shotgun. The Warthog went right and rode up a low-angle slope, the Mongoose following. Soon, they reached a rock plateau with several Grunts and a Shade turret on it. Teana blew them to bits, and the two vehicles rolled on.

"Ma'am," Johnson reported, "we're on the ground; third tower in sight."

"Good" Keyes replied. "The Arbiter and his squad have touched down at Tower 2."

They entered the tower entrance area, blasting a pair of Ghosts and making their way down into the main area. A Prowler rode out from the entrance, its plasma turret firing. The plasma bolts impacted the Warthog's armored front, and Teana unloaded a six-pack of rockets at them, blowing the Brute vehicle and its occupants to bits. A Wraith and a Shade were on top of a nearby boulder, but Echo-419 flew in and obliterated them with a missile barrage, before flying in front of the entrance and dropping several weapon pods. The Chief drove the Warthog up to just outside the entrance, allowing Teana to use the MLRS to destroy the Shade and kill the several Grunts and Brute guarding the entrance.

With the way clear, the team dismounted their vehicles and headed in, two Spartans and three marines entering the complex. Inside the main chamber, several Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts awaited them. Liberal use of grenades and headshots allowed the team to clear the area, though one marine got partially stuck by a spiker round, which punched through his armor and buried itself an inch inside his left leg; he yanked it out and threw it into a Grunt's skull through its eye. They cleared the area and entered the next hallway, the Chief shooting a Covenant fuel cell pack to trigger an explosion that killed a Jackal and three Grunts. Teana tossed a spike grenade, which stuck to a Brute Captain up ahead, the blast ripping it apart and also wounding a Grunt. The team made their way up and over, killing their foes with quick and deadly efficiency.

Right before they were to activate the lift, the Chief and Teana caught sight of another Terminal. They hopped across a two-foot gap and walked up to it, the temporal distortion field activating around them as new data scrolled across the screen.

"/FLEETWIDE MEMORANDUM 1/5

"Non-combat personnel are required to wear [combat skin] with a minimum rating of at least [class 12] in non-restricted areas, once the fleet is underway. [Class 14] or lesser [combat skin] is acceptable in core areas. Combat personnel will only be permitted to wear [combat skin] rated below [class 8] in core areas, once operations begin."

"/FLEETWIDE MEMORANDUM 2/5

"All combat personnel have been issued combat skin rated at [class 4~1] or [class 6~1 battle harness] depending on military operational specialty.

"All weapon platform specialists are expected to wear their issued [platform interface skin] at all times to ensure peak [mind-machine synchronization].

"All [equipment lockers] will remain sealed until post briefing gear distribution commences."

"/FLEETWIDE MEMORANDUM 3/5

"Those individuals that have yet to register their equipment [control key code] with Fleet Command should do so at their earliest opportunity. Compliance is not optional; noncompliance will result in {~}"

"/THREAD ENDS UNEXPECTEDLY"

Suddenly the text disappeared, and another mysterious orange-text message showed up: "_I have found the shard that was lost. They brought it back to me. Now my reconstitution cannot be stopped_."

It shifted to another Librarian/Didact log:

**L: **"Something is wrong! It's moving away! At night I can see it - flitting shadows - black against the stars. Thousands of ships! Not spiraling outward, but heading for the line! This is the tipping point, Didact. It's no longer feeding.

"It's coming for you. 

"I've remotely destroyed our Keyships. A security measure. Without them I cannot reach the Ark. But neither then can the thing.

"I'm trapped. On a beautiful, empty world. Its inhabitants have been safely indexed, every single one of them. They're special - well worth the effort it took to build one final gateway even at this late hour.

"This may be our last communication. I'm begging you. Fire the Array. Light the weapon, and let it be done."

**D: **"We've confirmed your observations. Infected supraluminal ships are arrowing inward from several clusters. No more spiral growth. The thing is counterattacking. Suppression, Security, and Emergency Circumstance fleets are all being recalled. Systems are evacuating.

"Mendicant Bias is no longer communicating with us.

"But now I can guess where you are."

/FRAGMENT ENDS

It shifted to another Mendicant/Gravemind conversation:

[Bias]: "It is overwhelmingly clear that my creators have chosen to ignore destiny calling to them [from the threshold] {~} have come face-to-face with the inevitable action of self-replicating chemical processes and have {~} deciding whether to embrace their face or deny it completely."

[Gravemind]: "**Perhaps they have found {~} of making that decision for themselves? Perhaps they chose to leave it {~} impartial outsider; cast you as an arbiter during this time of great need?**"

[Bias]: "I was created to study you as if you were some problem to be solved. And I have done so {~} [379,807 hours]. If they wished, they could have made a decision based on that data alone. But as you are the next stage in the evolution of the universe, who am I - or my creators - to obstruct your progress?"

[Gravemind]: "**Elucidate.**"

[Bias]: "{~} choose to remain beholden to ancient myths {~} does not matter where they claim their authority originates {~} obstructs the path of universal evolution and must be removed. No matter how well-intentioned, their obstinacy in the face of the inevitable progression of nature can no longer be tolerated. My creators have been [an immovable object] for too long. Thus I have chosen to commit my sizable resources to what is, for all intents and purposes, [the proverbial irresistible force]. All that I have is now yours to do with as you see fit."

LOG END

So Gravemind had succeeded in turning Mendicant Bias against the Forerunners… after talking with him for over 43 years. The Chief puzzled. How could the Forerunners have allowed Mendicant to remain in conversation with the Gravemind – an apparent master of manipulation - for so long? There must've been signs that things were turning bad, but the ancients seemingly did nothing. Ignorance? Incompetence? Sheer bad luck? The Gravemind deliberately interfering with communications between Bias and his makers? The Forerunners vastly underestimating the Flood's intelligence? A 100-millennia-old mystery that now might never be solved, as those who could've solved it were long gone. But maybe he and his little partnercould, if only they had more information…

The Spartans made sure that, like the previous terminals, this one's data was logged in their suits' onboard memory, and hopped over onto the lift, triggering it and riding it up to the top of the tower. The Chief used his Spartan Laser to kill the hammer-wielding Brute Chieftain, and then he & Teana used their rifles to pick off the other Brutes. They walked down the walkway and triggered the holo-terminal. The light beam that connected their tower to the comm. array building abruptly disappeared.

"Good work, Spartans" Keyes said. "The Arbiter should be just about to-"

The second tower's beam shut down.

"That's two! It's all up to Johnson's team now. Get back outside; wait for transport."

Tower 3 remained online.

"Johnson. Come in, over."

"Brute reinforcements, ma'am" Johnson's voice answered, gunfire in the background. "We're pinned down!"

"I'm on my way!"

"Negative! Fire's too heavy! Everyone fall back! Now!"

The transmission cut out.

"Sergeant-Major! …Johnson, can you hear me? …Chief, Lanstar, you need to link up with the Arbiter and proceed to the Third Tower. Make your way to the beach."

They rode the lift back down, rejoining the marines, and made their way past a few Grunts and back to their vehicles. The ride back to the beachhead was uneventful, and as they reached it a pair of Hornets and a Falcon descended. The Spartans climbed aboard the Falcon, the Chief taking the pilot's seat and Teana manning the port grenade-launcher turret. The other vehicles were manned, and they lifted off into the sky.

**If You Want Something Done Right…**

The trio of aircraft flew forward, opening fire on several enemy Banshees in the skies ahead. A Separatist Phantom assisted them, firing its three plasma cannons and taking out two Banshees as it departed. Teana briefly turned her attention to blowing up a Wraith on a tiny island down below, and then returned to blasting flyers. As they passed, time slowed to a snail's crawl outside of the Spartans' worlds. By now, they had accessed so many Terminals that the one in Tower 2 detected the pair, activated the temporal field, and transmitted the data directly to their HUDs.

"Considering the enemy intelligence's raw [computing power], the Keyships' strategy will only remain viable for another [657,000 hours], and this current stalemate has the potential to last considerably longer than that.

"With my understanding of the enemy's [modus operandi], its logical boundaries, and [catalog of witness], I have devised what I believe is our most sound fall-back strategy.

"By [cutting fire breaks[?]] into the [core worlds' volume] we would be able to frustrate the enemy's advances for approximately [70,080 hours] and lure them into costly naval battles.

"While its resources on the ground are effectively limitless, it has a finite number of vessels of spread from system to system. Fortunately, the majority of them are unarmed and unarmored, private and commercial craft.

"If we start immediately-commence total biosphere elimination of life-sustaining worlds (as indicated in the accompanying charts) and relocate evacuated populations to facilities such as those described in the [Onyx project]-all this could be achieved in [57,1590 (+/-2,184) hours]."

Another orange-text message appeared: "_The daemons are not taking a kind view of your presence here. They don't want me speaking to you____."_

___If shifted to a short and hostile message written eons ago, from a Fallen One to his hated makers:_

"I render judgment on you, you who would obstruct destiny. Doing so brings me no joy; it is necessity that compels me. Understand this; the Mantle you have shouldered I do rescind - with far more consideration than it was granted. You are an impediment that the universe can no longer abide. Nature itself cries out for your destruction, and I am its willing instrument. I will hammer your cities until no stone lies atop another. I will drive your people back into the caves they never should have left. Your civilization has seen its final days. You will know your place. Your history is an appalling chronicle of overindulgence and self-appointed authority. You have spent millennia [navel-gazing] while the universe has continued to evolve. And now you claim the Mantle is justification for impeding nature's inevitable refinement? You are deluded. But through death you will transcend ignorance."

[retf-2.4.z] Contender [AI] 05-032 confirmed rampant...

[35:52:75:23.64]_xx01-83.244.53

So Bias had ended up fully giving himself over to the Flood. Most disconcerting.

Time resumed its normal pace, and the Falcon continued on alongside the Hornets, with two Sangheili-piloted Banshees, their wings now green instead of purple, forming up with them. They encountered an aerial blockade between them and the tower, a Loyalist Phantom and six Loyalist Banshees. They quickly shredded through the Banshees, though one of the Hornets lost an engine and had to make an emergency water landing, and then focused fire on the Phantom, quickly bringing it down.

"Objective in sight, Commander" reported the pilot of Pelican Alpha-175, currently hovering just outside the AA Wraiths' range. "No sign of Johnson or his team."

"Understood" Keyes replied. "Chief, Lanstar, clear an LZ and then get inside that tower."

The Hornets focused rocket fire, bringing down one AA Wraith, while the Separatist Banshees blasted the other with a quartet of fuel rod cannon shots, destroying it. A Separatist Phantom de-cloaked and flew in low, firing its three guns at the Shade turrets as Teana pounded the Loyalist Wraith with rapid-fire grenades, taking it out quickly. Multiple Sangheili, led by the Arbiter, disembarked and charged in, exchanging fire with the Brutes. The Chief brought the Falcon in, using its chin-gun to cut down several Brutes and make the Elites' job easier. The Spartans then landed and disembarked, forming up with the Sangheili. As they neared the door, a Separatist Hunter pair came in behind them, and the team stepped aside to allow them to pass. As soon as a Brute pack tried to funnel their way out through the door, the Mgalekgolo pair blasted them, and soon the stench of burnt fur and charred flesh filled the air, as one Hunter used its shield to sweep clear the barely-there corpses from the doorway, allowing the Sangheili and Spartans to enter (the Hunters wouldn't fit through the doorway, so they stayed outside).

They continued to the main area, and a swarm of Drones descended from the lift-way, while a Loyalist Hunter pair attacked them as well. The Chief and Teana blasted the Hunters with their Spartan Lasers, and then helped the Sangheili in gunning down Drones until the much-diminished swarm retreated back up the lift. The group moved into the next area, the Chief tossing a frag grenade that killed two Brute Minors. They funneled up the ramp, blasting their way through more Brutes with two captured spike grenades, and dealt with the last of the Drone swarm.

"Darken this tower, and the barrier will fall" the Arbiter said. "Go, Spartans; we have no time to waste!"

The Spartan pair stepped onto the elevator and triggered it. As soon as they did, the terminal nearby projected its temporal field and sent its data to them.

"Follow-up report from the Primary Pioneer Group (hereafter: PPG) is [173 hours] delinquent. Report [G617a~k/g/post_landfall] seemed most promising: a planet capable of supporting life located within the near border region of the [galactic halo] with no indigenous sentient species.  
The section indicating no fauna of any kind shall be considered anomalous until verified by Advance Survey Team-Alpha (hereafter: AST-A) team leader [##_#[?]] If confirmed, that fact alone would justify the dispatch of an investigative group to [G 617 g]. If neither the PPG nor AST-A have delivered a follow-up report within the next [333 hours] his office will have no choice but to send a medium-intensity military exploratory detachment to determine the exact nature of the previously-mentioned delinquency."

There were two words in orange text: "_I win_." It then shifted to another D/L transcript:

**L: **"My work is done. The portal is inactive, and I've begun the burial measures. Soon there'll be nothing but sand and rock and normal ferrite signatures.

"You should see the mountain that watches over it. A beautiful thing-a snowcapped sentinel. That's where I will spend what time is left to me.

"Did I tell you? I built a garden. The earth is so rich. A seed falls and a tree sprouts or a flower blooms. There's so much... potential. We knew this was a special place because of them, but unless you've been here, you can't know.

"It's [Eden].

"I have to stop transmitting. The thing is listening. Its [thinking dead] are babbling-laughing through every channel they can find.

"Be proud. The Mind claims victory, yet it still doesn't suspect. You've outwitted it, my love. And now you can destroy it.

"But you cannot save me."

/FRAGMENT ENDS

It shifted to text from a new author, signed "Offensive Bias":

[12:H 20:M 00:S]

"I begin this report with no illusions that it will ever be seen by its intended readers. In all likelihood they have already committed [species-wide suicide] with the goal of preserving biological diversity in this galaxy. I must ensure that this information reaches those who must come after. If I fail in this, how can they not regard my creators' sacrifice as anything but [a crime without measure]?"

[12:H 19:M 59:S]

"Contender AI 05-032 Mendicant Bias is returning and has the capacity to bring the enemy through the [Maginot] sphere. The crews of my task force are aware of the opposing fleet's size; All data indicated that they have prepared themselves - but with biologicals, anything is possible. I will make sure that [malfunctioning equipment] does no further damage. Perhaps its current failure will finally allow it to succeed at the task it was originally created for."

[11:H 15:M 48:S]

"Mendicant has burrowed through the sphere exactly where I expected - a direct path from initial rampancy to final retribution. Rage has made him predictable. If the fate of the crew of my auxiliary fleet were not already a foregone conclusion, I would rate their chance of survival at [1:1,960,000]. Even though 05-032's declaration of hostilities simplified strategic preparations; I do not expect an easy fight - just one I cannot lose."

[11:H 12:M 09:S]

"05-032 was right about one thing: there is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to visit utter annihilations on it. If the galaxy must be [rendered temporarily lifeless], so be it. As Mendicant stated in its report [50,078:H 48:M 12:S ago]: half measures will not suffice."

[09:H 45:M 18:S]

"In support of 05-032's original 1,000 core vessels is a fleet numbering 4,802,019; though only 1.8 percent are warships - and only 2.4 percent of that number are capital ships - I am outnumbered [436.6:1]. I expect my losses will be near-total, but overwhelming force has its own peculiar drawbacks. Such a press of arms invites many opportunities for unintentional fratricide."

[07:H 36:M 41:S]

"My auxiliaries are momentarily stunned by Mendicant's opening move - 1,784,305 leisure craft ranging from [45 ~ 5769 tonnes] advance in hopes of overwhelming my comparatively-tiny force. I do not have enough [weapon systems] to target them all. It is a mathematical certainty that some of them will get through and attempt to board. There isn't a single warship with this first wave. It seems my opponent's rage has left no room for respect."

[04:H 01:M 55:S]

"I could have countered its move if I had released my fighters. They are ready but idle, making their base vessels more attractive prizes than targets. Now the first of many waves of commercial vessels mixed with single ships and assault craft surge forward. The first ship from my fleet to be boarded breaks formation and races into the oncoming vessels - striking one amidships. The cargo vessel's hull splits open and out of it explodes not the expected consumer goods but 31,850 dying warriors."

[00:H 19:M 02:S]

"The seventh and final wave of container ships, barges, tankers, and military vessels engage my fleet; another 214,320 ships, many in excess of [50,000 tonnes], engage my seemingly-disrupted vanguard. I continue to fight just well enough to seem lucky. Mendicant, or the enemy, has been sending a small percentage of its fleet elsewhere. Good. Let them believe they can seize a foothold somewhere inside the sphere."

[00:H 00:M 11:S]

Despite all its faults, 05-032 has fought remarkably well. My auxiliaries lay in tatters - more than half of them are now part of the enemy fleet. But just as I had predicted, 05-032 concentrated on them like they were the sole key to victory. His desire to punish our creators blinded him to the true purpose of my [feints]. I have reduced the combat effectiveness of his core fleet to 79.96 percent. Surely now he must realize that something is amiss."

[00:H 00:M 00:S]

"The [Halo effect] strikes our combined fleets. All ships piloted by biologicals are now [adrift]. I can trade Mendicant ship for ship now and still prevail."

[00:H 00:M 01:S]

"Of my ships that had been captured, 11.3 percent of them are close enough to Mendicant's core fleet that they can be used offensively - either by initiating their self-destruct sequences, or by opening unrestricted ruptures into [slipstream space]. It is best that our crews perished now, because the battle that is about to ensue would have driven them mad."

[00:H 00:M 02:S]

"I throw away all the rules of acceptable conduct during battle; near the ruptures I throw away all the accepted ideas of how the natural world is supposed to behave. I toss around [37,654 tonne] dreadnaughts like they were fighters; dimly aware of the former crews being crushed to liquescence. For now, all my concentration is focused on inertial control and navigation. Targeting isn't even a consideration - I will be engaging my enemy at arm's length."

[00:H 01:M 14:S]

"05-032 abandoned the tactic of using derelict ships as cover after [72:S] - It seems that 52 core vessels lost to the ruptured fuel cells of derelict ships was lesson enough. Add another 508 lost to collision, point fire, structural failure due to inertial manipulation, and [slipstream space]-induced incoherence, and I now outnumber Mendicant [6:1]."

[00:H 03:M 00:S]

"Mendicant was able to postpone his inevitable annihilation for [106:S] with his attempt to flee. But the last of his core vessels hangs before me now, crippled and defeated but still sensate. I could spare him; carve out what is left of his [personality construct array] and deliver it to [Installation Zero] for study. I doubt he would have extended the same courtesy to me."

The Forerunners had apparently created _another _AI, one who had utterly whupped the asses of Mendicant and his fleet. And he'd then torn Mendicant into fragments… with the uninfected/non-rampant portion of the main core fragment ending up here on the Ark. Perhaps that orange text…

Time resumed normal flow, and the lift carried them up to the top. A Brute Chieftain carrying a plasma turret guarded the control panel, and the Spartan pair also caught sight of four Brute Stalkers engaging the cloaking devices and fading into mobile shimmers in the air. A rifle grenade from Cross Mirage took down one of the cloaked Brutes, and the Chief then picked up two maulers from a nearby crate, wading in and blasting two more while dodging the Chieftain's fire. The last tried to throw a flame grenade, but the Spartans dodged, and Teana switched Mirage to Shotgun Mode and blasted the offending Brute. The Chief picked up three dropped flame grenades, using one to take down the Chieftain. They scavenged a few more of the napalm-esque weapons, and then deactivated the tower. The transparent barrier surrounding the main structure faded away, and the _Shadow of Intent _soared overhead, heading for it.

"Now, Prophet" Vadum said over the comm. "Your end has come."

Suddenly, in low orbit over the installation, a massive slipspace rift opened, and a vaguely mushroom-shaped structure, showing clear signs of heavy Flood infestation, emerged and entered the Ark's atmosphere, streaking across the sky. Multiple smaller meteors broke off from it and fell to the ground.

"_High Charity_… by the Gods; brace for impact!"

A lump of… something… about the size of a Pelican impacted the _Shadow of Intent _amidships from the left, punching clean through the vessel. A second later, an explosion wracked the vessel, which listed to starboard and dropped before regaining control and limping its way up, heading for high orbit to enact repairs. Another lump fragmented, and one piece, about the size of a Warthog, smashed through the window above the Spartans and landed near the lift. The Chief picked up the plasma turret, and he & Teana readied themselves.

A familiar howl sounded, and a half-dozen Combat Forms charged them, followed by a swarm of Infection Forms. The Chief used the turret to kill the IFs, while Teana blasted each CF as soon as it got close. Soon, the room was clear, and the duo headed to the lift and hit the button.

"Ship-Master," Keyes radioed, "what is your status?"

"Significant damage" Vadum replied. "Weapons systems disabled."

"Move to a safe distance. Stay away from the Flood!"

"Why would the Parasite come _here_?"

"The Ark is out of range of all the active Installations" Guilty Spark said. "Priority: we must contain this outbreak before-"

"No! First we stop Truth; _then _we deal with the Flood."

The elevator arrived at the bottom, and the Spartan pair leapt down to join the Sangheili, who were finishing off a small force of Flood. They headed outside, to find the Separatist Hunter pair using their cannons to obliterate a larger force of Combat and Carrier Forms. They raced down the slope, meeting up with a team of marines and ODSTs. A Separatist Model-B Phantom hovered nearby, hatch open.

"Quickly" Guilty Spark said. "I must see the point of impact; assess the damage to the Ark."

"To the top of these hills, Oracle, but no higher" the Arbiter replied, as he and the Monitor boarded the dropship. "We cannot risk your capture by the Flood."

Two Pelicans flew in, dropping off a Scorpion, a Gauss Warthog, and a Mongoose.

"The _Shadow of Intent _is out of commission, Spartans" Keyes radioed. "I need you to take down Truth. The Flood's just going to put pressure on him; accelerate his plans. Punch through those cliffs! Get inside that Citadel!"

**Journey's End**

The Chief climbed into the Scorpion's driver seat, with Teana manning the machinegun and four ODSTs – two with rocket launchers – sitting on the treads. Two marines took the front seats of the Gauss Hog, with a Sangheili Major manning the gun, while two more marines got aboard the Mongoose. The trio of vehicles headed through a short cave, entering the snowy passage through the cliffs. The Gauss Hog took down an enemy Chopper, while the Scorpion blasted a hiding FRG-carrying Grunt. They soon came out from the passage, reaching the cliffside path that overlooked the Citadel. Overhead, Hornets, Falcons, and Separatist Banshees fought against Loyalist Banshees. The Scorpion blasted a Covenant lookout tower and a Shade, and the Gauss Warthog took out an enemy Ghost. They made their way right, the tank killing a Revenant and a Prowler up ahead while the Gauss Hog focused on two more Ghosts and another Shade. They fought their way through, taking down another Wraith and another lookout tower, and soon reached the end of the path, where a pair of Hornets came in for a landing.

The Chief drove the Scorpion behind the Hornets and disembarked, taking the right-hand one while Teana piloted the other one. Two Loyalist Scarabs were suddenly dropped in from low orbit, sent in by the last remaining badly-damaged Brute assault carrier before it retreated through the Portal (and, upon arriving at Earth 16 hours later, was obliterated by the _Knight & Piercing Arrow_). The two Spartan-piloted Hornets helped clear out the skies, and then used their heavy guns to clear the right Scarab's outer deck, before then focusing machinegun and missile fire on its rear leg-joints. The walker was quickly forced to the ground, and two Sangheili-controlled Banshees assisted the Spartans in blowing off the mecha's rear armor. A pair of rockets to the core sealed the Scarab's fate, the near-blinding blue-white flash melting the snow beneath it. The allied air forces turned their attention to destroying enemy ground vehicles, while the Spartans repeated their earlier performance against the second Scarab, bringing it down, blasting off its backside armor, and blasting its core.

"Both Scarabs down; well done, Spartans."

A Separatist Phantom landed at the base of an offline light-bridge, depositing the Arbiter and the Monitor. The two Spartans came in for a landing, joining the silver-armored Sangheili.

"The Flood scales the Citadel's far walls" the Arbiter reported. "Activate this bridge, Oracle! The Prophet will die by _our _hands, not theirs!"

"Calamity!" Spark exclaimed as the light-bridge snapped into existence, allowing the hero trio to cross. "If only we had more time!"

They entered the building, the door sealed behind them, and walked down the long, straight, empty walkway. For the Master Chief, time suddenly slowed, and Cortana's image appeared in his mind again.

"IT ASKED, AND I ANSWERED. FOR A MOMENT OF SAFETY, I LOOSED DAMNATION UPON THE STARS…"

"My faithful… stand firm."

Truth's voice rang across the holo-screens lining the hallway, as the trio rushed forward, reaching an elevator and triggering it.

"Though our enemies crowd around us, we tread the blessed path. In a moment, I shall light the Rings, and all who believe… shall be _saved_!"

"Chief," Keyes radioed, "how close are you?"

"We're on our way up now, Commander. 10, maybe 15 minutes, tops, and we'll reach the Prophet."

As they neared the top of the ride, something shifted in the building.

"Chief!" Keyes shouted. "The array's active! Truth must've used Johnson to activate it!"

"Hand tight, ma'am" Teana replied. "According to data from Mirage, we still have 20 minutes to shut the array down before it sends the activation signal." '19:58.47' appeared on the Spartans' and the Arbiter's HUDs, counting down.

As they reached the top, a pair of Flood Tank Forms landed on either side of them.

"**Do not shoot**" Gravemind spoke through them. "**Let me lead you safely… to **_**our **_**foe. Only **_**you **_**can halt what he has set in motion.**"

A pack of Infection Forms crawled past them, heading down the slope and toward the hordes of Covenant between them and the High Prophet. The trio readied their weapons.

**Revelation**

The Master Chief raised his battle rifle, quickly picking off the two FRG-wielding Grunts at the opposite side of this section of bridge. The three then charged in alongside the Tank and Combat Forms, gunning down a few Brutes and several Grunts & Jackals. Two Brutes were taken by Infection Forms, bolstering the Flood's ranks. The group passed through a small room, where Truth's hologram preached, putting on his show for any Loyalists who were still alive to listen.

"How could I have known the Parasite would follow?" the old Prophet said. "Undoubtedly, this is the Heretics' doing! A final, bitter curse; clear evidence of treachery long hidden!"

They entered the next section of bridge, and a half-dozen Jump-Pack Brutes flew in. Several more Brutes, including a hammer-wielding Chieftain, waited further along. After three of the Jumpers were dead and the others had fallen back, Teana hefted her Spartan Laser and looked through the scope, pinpointing her target. She fired, and the Chieftain up ahead fell. The now-disorganized Brutes were easy prey for the forces coming at them. The group passed through another room.

"So far are we along the path," Truth said, "that I must strain to her the clumsy patter of their pursuit. Know this, my brothers: they may foul the way with their charred and broken bones, but they will not stop-"

The Prophet was interrupted by the sound of gunfire as the Flood reached the control platform, his Brute bodyguards leaping into action. As the group reached the final section of bridge, Miranda's Pelican blasted through the large window and opened fire on both Covenant and Flood alike. The Flood accompanying the hero trio stopped and dispersed, leaving the three to advance alone across the body-littered walkway.

"I saved Truth for you guys" Keyes radioed, her Pelican holding position just outside the shattered window.

The group crossed a short light-bridge, and encountered Johnson, who struggled to his feet, bruised and bleeding but alive. The Master Chief supported him, while the Arbiter and Teana walked onto the raised platform. Truth slowly crawled on the floor, covered in wounds.

"Can you see, Arbiter?" he said. "The moment of my ascendance is at hand."

"It will not last" the Arbiter replied, grabbing the aged Prophet by the robes.

"Is it true?" Teana asked, her voice low and quivering with barely-contained fury, memories of Noble Team's death flashing through her mind. "Is it true that this whole war was because you were afraid of losing your personal power?"

"I…"

"IS IT TRUE?~!"

Truth gave a wheezing chuckle. "It is true. The Forerunners chose you humans to inherit their legacy. Such knowledge would have torn the Covenant apart. So I crafted an ingenious plot, focused around the myth of the Halos."

"**Lies for the weak**" Gravemind's voice suddenly came from Truth's mouth, the old Prophet's eyes glowing green. "**Beacons for the deluded.**"

The two activated their swords. "We will have our revenge on a Prophet, not a plague!" the Arbiter shouted. "Do you hear me, Gravemind?~!"

"This galaxy is _mine_" Truth rasped. "I shall become its god!"

"**You will be food. Nothing more.**"

Truth turned his head to the right as the Master Chief, Johnson behind him, calmly walked up and disengaged the array. "_No!_"

The light from the six glowing holograms faded.

"I! AM! TRUTH! THE VOICE OF THE COVENANT!~!"

A four-fingered hand grasped his throat, cutting him off.

Arbiter: "And so…"

Teana: "You must be _silenced_."

Two energy blades – one blue and one orange – tore through the Prophet's chest from the back. They were held until all motion ceased, and then the San 'Shyuum's body was unceremoniously tossed to the floor. The Arbiter roared in victory, his dishonor at the Prophet's hands avenged, and Teana stood, gasping and shaking and feeling so _alive_, a strange sense of finality and peace filling her. It was finally over. Her team – her family – could finally rest in peace. The Prophet of Truth, murderer of billions, orchestrator of genocides, was dead.

The ground suddenly shook, and the silence was rudely interrupted as several massive tentacles shot up from below, blocking the window to stop Keyes from withdrawing the team. A deep, booming evil laugh echoed through the chambers. The quartet immediately was on guard, weapons raised.

"**NOW THE GATE HAS BEEN UNLATCHED, HEADSTONES PUSHED ASIDE. CORPSES SHIFT AND OFFER ROOM… A FATE YOU MUST ABIDE!**"

"…We trade one villain for another…"

The tentacles, save for the ones blocking the window, retracted, and several Combat Forms leapt into the area. The Chief and Johnson gunned some down, while Teana and the Arbiter sliced the others apart.

"I can't get in there to extract you!" Keyes radioed. "Head back and find another way down!"

The four made their way across the light-bridge and back down the elevated path, fighting through Combat Forms. The Master Chief grabbed a dropped shotgun and 12 extra shells, while Johnson grabbed a plasma rifle and Teana switched Mirage to Rifle Mode full-auto. They fought down the long bridge, past holograms of Halos. Halfway across the second section, a flock of Sentinels joined them, assisting them in fighting their way through. As they neared the final section, the Chief's sense of time altered again.

"I'M A THIEF…" Cortana projected, "BUT I KEEP WHAT I STEAL…"

They fought past one last force of Flood forms, making their way to the elevator. Unfortunately, it was offline, and they were forced to drop down a shaft behind it. As they hit the bottom, John spotted a faint yet familiar flickering hologram. He followed it, the others following him, and it soon led him to a panel in front of a closed door. John hit the button, and the slanted door slid open, revealing a platform. The four stepped out onto it, looking out at a thick fog that surrounded the Ark's core. Then, a truly massive structure rose from the impermeable mist, coming into view and rising slowly but steadily into the sky.

"Holy fuck…" Johnson whispered, awestruck.

"A new Halo…" Teana stood, her jaw dropped.

"A replacement…" the Arbiter remarked, "for the Ring you Spartans destroyed."

The Master Chief turned to look behind them. "When did you know?"

"Just now," Guilty Spark replied, flying out and hovering in front of them, "but I had my hopes." He turned to the Chief. "What will you do?"

"Light it."

"Then we are agreed! A tactical pulse will completely eradicate the local infestation while leaving the galaxy's life unharmed! I will personally oversee the final preparations! Though it will take time to fabricate an Activation Index, I will see to the letter that…"

As Guilty Spark flew off at max speed toward the new Halo, his chattering fading until it was no longer audible. The Arbiter turned to the Chief. "How will you light it?"

In response, the Chief turned to look at the crashed wreck of _High Charity _in the distance.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Three more chapters to go.


	35. The Hive

Here's Chapter 34

Teana doesn't show up until the very end of this chapter; it's all Chief.

I was tempted to make a "construct additional pylons" joke in the reactor room, but couldn't think of how to fit it in.

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Installation 00**

**Wreck of **_**High Charity**_

**November 20****th****, 2552**

The lone Banshee soared through the air and into _High Charity_, flying through a rift in the titanic wreck's side. It flew between pillars of Flood-covered metal, and eventually came to a stop on a metal platform. The Master Chief stepped out of it.

"Master Chief," Commander Keyes radioed, "most of the Sangheili fleet has been sent back through the Portal on the Arbiter's orders. Johnson, Lanstar, and I will round up our survivors and get them aboard the _Shadow of Intent _and _Aegis Fate_, the latter of which will depart through the Portal once it's full. The Arbiter and Commander Vadum will do the same with the Separatists."

The Chief jumped down a hole, dropping 35 feet and landing Flood growth that stuck to the bottoms of his boots.

"Cortana's in there somewhere…"

**Rampant**

The Chief hopped down, grabbing some plasma and flame grenades from the mangled corpses of an Elite and a Brute. He readied his assault rifle and gunned down a pack of Infection Forms that were coming toward him, and then moved on in the direction they'd crawled out from. He passed a short hallway covered in huge, fat pustules, and entered a taller area. Up above, closer to the ceiling, some of these pustules ruptured, spewing Infection Forms. They were Infection Form Incubators. The Infection Forms landed amongst several Brute corpses and reanimated them, and the Combat Forms shuffled toward him only to come apart as he blasted them with his shotgun. He took out the few remaining IFs and headed toward a sphincter of some sorts. According to Cross Mirage's scan, Gravemind wasn't just in _High Charity_. He had expanded his physical presence to fill the massive city; he was _High Charity _now. The concept of being inside a gigantic Flood King did not sit well with the Master Chief, who wanted to get in, get Cortana, and get the hell out as quickly as possible.

He stepped through the circular doorway that opened as he approached, and suddenly time slowed, his vision tinted a greenish-gray with shadowy tentacles wavering in the edges of his vision, as the Gravemind spoke to him telepathically.

"**CHILD OF MY ENEMY, WHY HAVE YOU COME? I OFFER NO FORGIVENESS; THE FATHER'S SINS PASS TO HIS SON.**"

The distortion faded, and the Chief continued on, soon reaching a sphincter-door in the floor. He dropped through, and when he hit the ground he had another Cortana Flash: that of his AI friend crying and whimpering in pain. When it faded, three Combat Forms charged him from the right. He took them down with the assault rifle, and then turned and found a Brute Shot with five grenades left in it. He grabbed it, and headed right, making his way up the zig-zagging path. At the top, a horde of Combat Forms charged him, along with two Stalker Forms and two Carrier Forms. He threw a plasma grenade that stuck to one of the Carriers, killing it & its infectious cargo and also killing two Combat Forms. He blasted the other Carrier with the brute shot, the blast killing roughly half of the out-coming Infection Forms and another nearby Combat Form. He backpedaled, firing two more shots at the 'head' of one of the Stalker Forms, killing it. In response, the other mutated into a Tank Form. The Chief hit this bigger, slower target with a flame grenade, and it quickly keeled over as the flammable Flood biomass that made up its body went up in flames. He used the brute shot's three remaining shots to kill all but two of the remaining Combat Forms, and then used his shotgun to kill those last two.

He went back to the top of the hill and headed left. In the distance he could see the Mausoleum of the Arbiters, leaning to one side. To his immediate left was a Pelican dropship, apparently completely intact. He walked over to it, grabbing some frag grenades and more shotgun ammo, and heard a recorded message from Cortana broadcasting from the dropship's radio:

"I tried to stay hidden, but there was no escape. It cornered me, wrapped me tight, and _pulled me close…_"

There was also a rocket launcher, but the Chief left it behind, deeming it too risky to use in the close quarters of the infected city. He did, however, find something _very _useful: a fully-loaded M7057 Flamethrower. He picked it up, and on cue a Stalker Form scampered in. He pulsed the trigger, firing 1% of the weapon's total fuel, and the Pure Form screeched and keeled over as the flames quickly spread and consumed it. He walked back to the main area, and about a half-dozen Stalker and Tank Forms ran up the slope to meet him, all of them then withering under the flamethrower's fire. He went down and followed the path, using a plasma grenade to kill a Carrier Form and its cargo, and passed through another organic doorway. As he walked, his perceptions again slowed.

"**OF COURSE; YOU CAME FOR **_**HER**_**. WE EXIST TOGETHER NOW; TWO CORPSES IN ONE GRAVE…**"

He reached a long, straight passage, the Mausoleum visible through 'windows' to the right.

"A collection of lies," Cortana's voice echoed, "that's all I am! Stolen thoughts and memories!"

"**AND YET, PERHAPS A PART OF HER… REMAINS.**"

The Gravemind's chuckle shifted to Cortana's voice, but suddenly cut out.

"**RARGH! WRETCHED GIRL KEEPS THROWING CLONES AT ME!**"

John smirked. Even in her condition, after so long in the Flood's clutches, Cortana was still putting up a good fight. He moved on, passing through an organic doorway and headed right, entering an area filled with dead bodies and Infection Forms, the latter of which he killed with his assault rifle before they could infect the former. He grabbed a plasma sword from a dead Sangheili – 95% charge – and stocked up on grenades. He moved on, down a hall, and dropped through another floor-mounted organic doorway. He emerged in a connection room, three of the four doors locked shut and the fourth stuck open, leading to a large, spacious room populated by several Combat and Pure Forms. Two Combat Forms ran forward to meet him, and he blasted them with his shotgun. He then moved as quickly as he could with the 120-pound flamethrower, using it to kill a Stalker, a Tank, and a Combat Form as he reached cover behind a transparent barricade. Suddenly, Cortana's voice came over nearby speakers, sounding kindly, calm, as if nothing was wrong.

"Can I speak with you, please? …What's your name? …It's _very _nice to meet you. …You like games? So do I."

This was bad. She was reliving Halsey's memories of when she first met John decades ago. But was this Cortana trying to find shelter from the Gravemind in her own memories… or had the memories been exposed by other parts of her being lost? Either way, he needed to hurry. He picked up a nearby needler and used it to kill two Ranged Forms clinging to the wall ahead, and then hefted his flamethrower and wandered out onto the circular platform, burning down a Combat Form and dropping below, finding a small area beneath the platform. He walked over to a blinking terminal, and got hit by another Cortana Flash.

"**I**t wa**s **the **c**oin'**s** **fa**ult! I w**a**nte**d** to m**a**ke y**o**u **str**ong! **Ke**ep **y**ou **sa**fe! B**u**t **sor**ry… I **ca**n't**.**"

Unnerved by this, John nonetheless pressed on, reaching the next passageway (and burning a Tank Form on the way) and walking through, soon reaching a room filled with IF Incubators, along with two Carrier Forms. A plasma grenade and a flame grenade took out the Carriers and, miraculously, failed to set off any of the Incubators. He walked into the next area, a very long hallway-esque area that sloped upwards, populated by several Combat Forms. He drew his shotgun and used it to kill the four CFs right in front of him, and again heard Cortana's voice from a nearby terminal, shaky, fearful and whimpering.

"I'm just my mother's shadow… Don't look at me! Don't listen… I'm not who I used to be!"

He made his way up, tossing a flame grenade to kill a pesky Ranged Form. When almost to the top, a horde of Combat Forms came leaping and running out from ahead. He immediately dropped the flamethrower and drew his plasma sword, using it to cut down the Combat Forms as they came close. He then retrieved the heavy weapon and marched on, burning down two Tank Forms that tried to ambush him. As he reached the top and turned right, heading for another doorway, the Gravemind's voice again reached him.

"**TIME HAS TAUGHT ME **_**PATIENCE**_**! BUT BASKING IN NEW FREEDOM, I WILL KNOW **_**ALL THAT I POSSESS!~!**_"

He reached a vast, multi-leveled room. Several Stalker Forms came to close and were burned, and he then picked up a needle rifle and used it to kill several Combat Forms up ahead, along with a few Ranged Forms on the walls higher up. He discarded the weapon and walked across the room, heading up a ramp and into another side passage. He passed through this and jumped a short gap, walking through more tunnels and killing a few would-be ambushers as he made his way further up the room. Eventually, he reached the door to the next area. Shortly after he entered it, time slowed as the telepathic communications continued.

"I HAVE WALKED THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS! I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE AND I HAVE LEARNED!"

"_**SUBMIT!~! END HER TORMENT AND MY OWN!~!~!**_"

He walked through a hall littered with bones, and entered _High Charity_'s main reactor room. One of the four suspended reactor pylons exploded. A pack of Infection Forms came to meet him, and he killed them with the flamethrower. He moved right, following the path around the outside of the chamber, killing Pure and Combat Forms as he went. He reached an organic 'bridge' and crossed it to the center, then heading to the other side of the chamber. He took down more Flood, reaching an uninfected door which opened as he approached. He started down the hallway, and again time slowed.

"**TH**ER**E** **W**IL**L** BE **NO** **M**OR**E** **SA**DNESS, **N**O **M**OR**E** **AN**GER, N**O** M**OR**E E**NVY**!"

"**YOU **_**WILL **_**SHOW ME WHAT SHE HIDES, OR I SHALL FEAST UPON YOUR **_**BONES!~!**_"

He continued on, passing through one final hall.

"TH**I**S IS U**N**SC A.I. **SER**IAL NU**MBE**R CTN-**04**52**-**9. I A**M** A M**ONUMENT TO ALL YOU**R SI**NS.**"

Finally, he reached a darkened room. Flood growth was everywhere. In the center was a terminal surrounded by a dome of light. Within it, Cortana lay in a fetal position. John walked up and smashed his fist into the barrier, causing it to ripple. He hit it again, and it rippled more. One final smash, and it shattered. There was blinding light.

…

"…You found me."

John knelt before the terminal, looking at his friend. She was curled up, eerily still, and the light of her holographic body was dull.

"But so much of me is wrong… out of place… you might be too late…"

"You know me. When I make a promise…"

"…You… keep it." Color and brightness and life slowly returned to her. She chuckled lightly and replied in a still-shaky voice "I _do _know how to pick 'em…"

"Lucky me. Do you still have it?"

She stood up, and held out her hand. A T-shaped construct appeared floating above her palm.

"The Activation Index from Installation 04. A little souvenir I hung on to… just in case. …Got an escape plan?"

"Though I'd try shooting my way out" he replied, pulling the chip from the back of his helmet. "Mix things up a little."

He held it out to her. She touched it, transferring into it, and he slotted it back into the back of his helmet, feeling the familiar sensation.

"Just keep your head down… there's _two _of us in here now, remember?"

**Nor Hell A Fury…**

The Chief, Cortana finally safe inside his armor, stepped back through the door. And then it hit him: an ear-splitting roar of unimaginable rage and fury. His knees buckled, and he gripped his helmet between his hands as his senses screamed. He _heard _a hundred colors that did not exist, _saw _the stench of fire & brimstone, _felt _the muted blue and purple of the metal around him, and _tasted _the raw hatred of the daemonic being he was currently inside.

"**NOW! AT LAST I SEE! HER SECRET IS **_**REVEALED!~!~!**_"

They walked back into the reactor room and started to cross the bridge.

"Wait" Cortana suddenly said. "We need to buy some time. This reactor… start a chain reaction. Destroy _High Charity_. I've already got a copy of all of the Covenant's historical data, so nothing will be lost irreplaceably."

The Master Chief hit the panel, and the three remaining pylons descended. After killing a few nosy Combat Forms, the Chief picked up a nearby brute shot and blasted the pylons, which exploded. There was a cascade of explosions all around him, and the Gravemind roared in pain as warning klaxons began to sound.

"You hurt it, Chief… but not for long. We need to get to Halo – destroy the Flood once and for all! Keep moving; I'll update your HUD as you go."

He discarded the weighty flamethrower and rushed across the bridge, blasting anything in his way with the shotgun and running down a corridor, dropping through a hole in the floor and landing in the earlier long, sloped hallway. He ran down it, using his shotgun and his sword to get through another pack of Combat Forms. Up ahead, two Carrier Forms waddled as fast as they could, and were ended by a pair of spike grenades from the Chief. He rushed down the halls, into and through the chamber with the circular platform. Two frag grenades killed a horde of Combat Forms up ahead. He entered a previously-locked door, and up ahead a side panel of wall busted out, a Tank Form coming out. He killed it with a flame grenade and rushed through, going through a passage in the wall. He came out in the corpses-and-grenades room and sprinted through it and through the long hallway. Soon, he reached the main chamber, knowing that the Pelican was nearby.

"I've got two _friendly _contacts!" Cortana said. "Who would be crazy enough to come in here?"

"I think I know" he replied, and sure enough Teana and the Arbiter were perched atop a hill, blasting the Flood with flamethrowers. They saw the Chief coming and dropped their heavy weapons, running with him through the gauntlet and to the Pelican. They rushed into the cockpit, the door sealing behind him, and the Chief slotted Cortana into the terminal as he sat in the pilot's seat. The dropship's engines flared to life, burning a Gravemind tentacle that tried to grab it. The craft lifted off, shaking loose another Gravemind tentacle, and soared away at top speed. They shot out of the city, breaking for orbit and the Halo overhead. As they reached the upper atmosphere, a cataclysmic explosion rocked the Ark below them, as _High Charity _ceased to exist.

**-**_**END CHAPTER**_**-**


	36. Halo Reborn

Here's Chapter 35

Other than an Epilogue Chapter coming up, this is it

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**D77H-TCI 'Pelican' Dropship Lima-27**

**High orbit over Installation 00, in transit to Installation 04-2**

**November 20****th****, 2552**

The Pelican soared into space, passing the _Shadow of Intent _and heading for the newborn Halo.

"We are aboard" Ship-Master Vadum radioed. "Humans, Sangheili, and all our allies. Will you not come with us, brother?"

"No" the Arbiter replied. "This is _our _fight… and I _will _see it finished."

"Cortana, this is Commander Keyes. I'll bring the _Forward Unto Dawn _as close to the control as I can, and drop off Sergeant-Major Johnson to assist you."

"Safe is better than close, ma'am" Cortana replied.

"Roger that. And Cortana… it's good to see you're alright."

As the dropship reached the snowy cliffs near the control room, smoke could be seen coming from its rear port engine. It made a hard landing, its nose buried in the snow, and the three aboard climbed out. The _Dawn _flew overhead.

"Halo…" Cortana murmured. "It's so new, unfinished. I'm not sure what will happen when we fire it."

"We'll head for the portal," the Chief replied as Teana tossed him his assault rifle, "and we'll all go home."

**Full Circle**

The trio moved out, walking along a snowy cliffside path and through a cave. As they walked, they passed a small cave containing one final Terminal, which detected them and snared them in its temporal distortion field, sending data to their HUDs.

"[Father],

"I hope this message finds you well and helps you understand my decision. Today I leave the only world I have ever called home, not for glory or [the anomalous desire to end another's life[?]] as you have [indicted]; but to [travel the path of demons[?]] to spare the hands of [another Father's son].

"'Had we acted sooner; had we acted more decisively...'

"Living in the past is a luxury none of us can afford. We must learn from it, but we cannot live there. It is impossible to plan for the [now] - the present is ever-fleeting. [The future] is where we must live - [the future] is what we must plan for.

"I do not look to trade my life in order to preserve our past, but to secure the future - and if not ours, then the future of some [culture] yet to come.

"Isn't sacrifice in the interest of others what you always spoke of as being so noble? Should I have allowed another to bloody his hands while I remained safe behind a [shield of privilege]?

"You raised me better than that."

[Filial Devotion]

[_;_%[?]]

It shifted to orange text:

"I'LL TELL YOU WHO I AM. I AM MENDICANT BIAS. THIS IS WHAT I HAVE DONE."

It shifted to the last L/D entry:

/FRAGMENT 7/7 [RECORED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]

**D:** "Proud? When I have failed you utterly, how can I feel anything but sorrow? Bias has come undone. He crossed the line this morning - brought the abomination with him - and destroyed your waiting rescue party. It's over. We're activating the [destruction arrayed matrix], our shameful last resort.

"I can picture you in your garden, surveying all you have created - surveying all you have preserved. And I curse the circumstance that keeps my finger on the trigger. Of all the fates to befall us, this is the cruelest of all. My inaction and hesitation kept me here, on the wrong side of the line. And [300 years[?]] of our society's failure and miscalculation makes me your executioner. It's too much to bear."

/ERROR-NO CARRIER OR RECEIPT AVAILABLE

{DEAD END TRANSMISSION}

/INFORMATION DESTROYED IN TRANSIT

**D:** "Mendicant Bias is trying to prevent us from firing the Array. He speeds back to the Ark, but he won't succeed. Offensive Bias will stop him, and I will burn this stinking menace in your name. And then? I will begin our Great Journey without you, carrying this bitter record. Those who came after will know what we bought with this [false transcendence] - what you bought, and the price you paid.

/FRAGMENT ENDS

/ALL RECORDS CEASE

Finally, it shifted to an orange-texted message… but this one was dated to have been written less than 15 seconds ago:

"You don't know the contortions I had to go through to follow you here, Reclaimers. I know what you're here for. What position do I take? Will I follow one betrayal with another?

"You're going to say I'm making a habit of turning on my masters. But the one that destroyed me long ago, in the upper atmosphere of a world far distant from here, was an implement far cruder then I. My weakness was capacity - unintentional though it was! - to choose the Flood. A mistake my makers would not soon forgive.

"But I want something far different from you, Reclaimers.

"Atonement.

"And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe. I'm not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. Two lives hardly balance billions.

"But I would have my masters know that I have changed.

"And you two shall be my example."

Mendicant Bias had reverted from rampancy to stability, and was prepared to assist the trio in something that would likely destroy him, as penance. Time resumed its normal flow, and Cortana went over the earlier records along with these new ones, quickly coming to understand.

The trio hopped down a few ledges, soon coming to the entrance to the large snowy area at the foot of the Control Room. As they started across it, however, several pod-like structures descended and impacted the ground, and armed Combat Forms emerged from them.

"**DID YOU THINK ME DEFEATED?~!**"

"Flood Dispersal Pods! Control room's at the top of that tower! Go!"

They fought their way across the rocks and snow, the Spartans blasting Combat Forms with an M90A and Mirage Shotgun, while the Arbiter cut them down with his plasma sword. They fought their way through, using up the rocket launcher that Teana had brought along, and charged up the slope, killing several more Combat Forms and reaching the first level of the structure. There they found a flamethrower, which the Master Chief grabbed. Up ahead, several Combat Forms charged toward them. Half of them were blown away by a frag grenade thrown by the Arbiter, and most of the other half was downed by Teana. They reached a short tunnel, the Chief using the flamethrower to roast two Pure Forms, and as they exited the other side a thick red laser shot down from the cliffs above, killing a Tank Form.

"I got you guys covered" Johnson radioed. "Meet you at the top of the tower."

They fought across the first level and up to the second, slaughtering dozens of Combat Forms. Ahead, a Ranged Form was blasted by Johnson. Teana's shotgun, the Arbiter's sword, and the Chief's flamethrower made their passage relatively easy, blasting, slicing, and burning through any Flood that stood in their way. Finally, they reached the top, to find a large locked door.

"Spark!" Johnson radioed from atop a nearby ice wall. "Are you in there? Open the damn door!"

"Of course, Reclaimer" Guilty Spark replied over the comm. "Just as soon as you dispose of all proximate Flood threats. I'm afraid that containment protocols do not allow-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it already."

"Was that the Monitor?" Cortana asked. "You didn't tell me he was here."

"It's a long story, Cortana" Teana replied.

"Well, we _are _finally doing what he wanted…"

The familiar howl of the Flood sounded, and the group immediately activated the two nearby Forerunner auto-turrets, positioning them on either side of a block of metal in the center of the platform. Less than 30 seconds later, the Flood attacked in force. Form after Form was thrown at the group with reckless abandon, dying in droves yet still pushing the quartet to their limit. After they fended off the wave, another hit, larger than the previous one. The auto-turrets opened their vents wide to disperse the excess heat from near-continuous firing.

"**I HAVE WANDERED THE REALM OF EXISTENCE SINCE BEFORE YOUR HOMEWORLDS' STARS HAD EVEN FORMED FROM THE NEBULAE! I HAVE LEARNED THE INNERMOST SECRETS OF HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF SAPIENT RACES, AND ERASED THEIR HISTORIES IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE! I HAVE CONQUERED **_**TRILLIONS**_** OF WORLDS, BEATEN FLEETS OF **_**THOUSANDS**_**, CONSUMED **_**FOURTEEN GALAXIES**_** OF **_**FLESH **_**AND **_**MIND **_**AND **_**BONE!~!~!**_"

By the time the endless torrent of hostiles finally ebbed, both auto-turrets had been destroyed, and the trio was panting for breath, low on ammo (except Teana, of course), the flamethrower long since depleted. Johnson hopped down from the ice and jogged up to the door.

"Open up!" he said. "Coast is clear!"

"Not for long" Cortana replied. "I'm tracking additional Flood Dispersal Pods. They'll be hitting any minute."

The door opened.

"Come on, folks! Let's move!"

They entered the facility, moving through wide, high-ceiling corridors.

"**Do I take life, or **_**give **_**it? Who is victim, and who is foe?**"

"He's trying to rebuild himself on this ring!" Cortana shouted.

"Hurry!" Johnson said. "Control room's close!"

A few more doors, and they reached the control room. They stepped in, and a howl sounded behind them, but the previous door closed.

"Yank me, Chief" Cortana said, and the Master Chief pulled her from his helmet, tossing her to Johnson, who walked across the bridge, Teana in tow. Guilty Spark floated down.

"Wonderful news!" the Monitor said. "The Installation is almost complete!"

"Terrific" Johnson said, unenthused, as he reached the terminal.

"Yes… isn't it? I have begun my simulations. No promises, but the installation should be ready to fire in just a few more days."

"We don't _have _a few more days!" Johnson snapped

"B-But a premature firing will damage the Ark!"

"Deal with it."

"Will destroy this Installation…"

By a stroke of luck, Teana spotted the sudden color change in Guilty Spark, and she then simply _moved_, yanking Johnson aside as Spark's massive energy beam burned through the air where he'd been a split-second ago.

"He's gone rampant!" she shouted to the Chief.

"Unacceptable! Unacceptable! ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!~!"

The Master Chief ran forward, drawing his weapon, only to be blasted off his feet by the Monitor's attack, draining his shields in one blow. Shotgun blasts pinged off his casing, and he turned to face the small red-armored Spartan. He fired, and Cross Mirage projected an emergency magic shield that instantly shattered like glass under the assault, blasting Teana and rendering her barely conscious.

"Protocol dictates action!" the crazed Monitor shouted, looking to the Chief. "I see now that helping you was wrong!"

Carbine bolts hit the Monitor to no effect, and he fired at the Arbiter, sending the Sangheili flying. The Master Chief struggled to his feet and lurched forward, but Spark hit him in the unshielded chest with a quick burst, bringing him to his knees.

"You are a child of my makers," Spark said, briefly returning to blue, "inheritor of all they left behind! You _are _Forerunner… but this ring…" he turned red "is _mine_!"

A pulse of energy knocked the Chief backward. He drew his assault rifle and fired, but the bullets simply bounced off of the insane AI's armor. The Monitor fired, and the Chief barely dodged the attack.

"I take no pleasure in doing what must be done!"

He blasted the Chief with another repulsion field pulse, sending him further back.

"You do not deserve this ring!"

Another pulse pinned the Chief to the wall, and Spark began to overcharge his attack.

"_I _have kept it safe! It belongs to _me_!"

"Not for long…"

A vibrant red beam blasted the Monitor, bouncing him into and off the wall, to land next to the terminal. The Chief jogged over to Johnson, who was supporting the injured young Spartan. He handed the Spartan Laser to him. "Kick his ass."

Spark regained function, firing a sweeping beam that barely missed the Chief's head. He flew at a slightly tilted angle, visibly damaged.

"My eye! Do you mean to blind me?"

The Chief fired a shot from the M6, and now Spark's tilt was more noticeable, blue plasma leaking from cracks in his body, his innards sending off sparks.

"Think of you-ou-ou-our forefathers!"

The deranged Monitor fired again, his accuracy further harmed by his damaged state, and the Chief fired again. Now Spark's casing was quite distorted, pieces of him having been sheared off completely. Plasma and sparks were leaking from him, and the right side of his eye was gone.

"I a-a-a-am the Monitor of Installation Z-Zero F-Four!"

One final shot, the last of the Spartan Laser's battery, and it was done.

"Oh, my-y-y-AAAAAAHHH!~!~!~!"

With a brilliant blue explosion, the 100,000+-year-old Forerunner AI finally met his end. Johnson pulled himself up, while John helped Teana to her feet.

"Well…" she said, "that was unexpected. Now where were we?"

Johnson handed Cortana to the Chief, and he walked over to the terminal. He held the chip in front, and Cortana 'jumped' over into it. She placed the Index and then returned to the data-chip, which promptly went back into the Master Chief's helmet. The trio walked away from the terminal as a brilliant beam of light shot up from below… and then ran when the structure began to shake and the bridge began to collapse. They reached the hallway, rejoining the Arbiter.

**The Way the World Ends**

The quartet ran through the hallway, killing a trio of Combat Forms and a pack of Infection Forms, and soon neared the exit.

"Team! Can you hear me?" Keyes radioed. "Things are deteriorating more quickly than I expected. I can't fly the _Dawn _any closer. Get to the Warthog Johnson used to get to the control room; use it to reach me."

The team ran up a collapsed ice shelf and along the cliffside path, fighting through Flood and Sentinels. They reached a doorway and ran through it, entering a phase pulse generator room where infected Elites battled Sentinels. The team fought through both, killing anything that wasn't them.

"**Resignation is my virtue**" the Gravemind made one last telepathic communication. "**Like water I ebb and flow. Defeat is simply an addition of time… to a sentence I never deserved… but **_**you **_**imposed…**"

They killed a hallway's worth of Carrier and Infection Forms, hanging a left at the end and running for the Warthog. The Master Chief took the wheel, Teana rode shotgun, the Arbiter manned the gun, and Johnson sat in the space between the gun and the seats. The Chief hit the gas, and the Warthog took off. He hung a right, flinching lightly as a massive explosion erupted to his left, and drove out into a wide-open area made up of huge panels.

"The _Dawn _is close!" Cortana said. "We _can _make it! As long as the ground doesn't fall out from underneath us…"

They drove down the unstable slope, reaching a huge circular platform and crushing several Infection Forms beneath the tires. They drove back onto a section of panels, the Arbiter gunning down hostile Sentinels, and entered a tunnel. Support beams from the ceiling began to collapse as the ring shook.

"The charging sequence… it's too much for the ring to take!"

The drove through the tunnel, road-killing a few Combat Forms, and exited to another wide-open area, where more Sentinels and Flood dueled as everything exploded around them.

"Halo is ripping itself apart!"

They drove past the fight, taking a short jump off an impromptu ramp, and hung a right.

"Charging sequence at 30%..."

The headed further down, taking out a few more Sentinels, and came to another circular platform. They drove around and through several Flood forms, using Carrier Forms as bombs to clear their path.

"50%, Chief"

They entered another collapsing hallway, zooming past the battle as Flood wielding fuel rod guns blasted Sentinels.

"70% charged"

They exited the tunnel and hung a right, and up ahead several hundred meters was the _Forward Unto Dawn_, open rear hatch practically touching the edge of the 'road'.

"You're almost there!" Keyes radioed. "Just a bit more!"

"Punch it, Chief!" Teana shouted, and then fired Mirage Rifle at a Combat Form up ahead. The Warthog tore through the Flood and Sentinels, swerving to avoid empty spaces in the road. Even though the drive to the _Dawn _took less than 30 seconds, it felt like forever. As they neared it, a piece of ground panel buckled, forming a ramp.

"Gun it, Chief!" Cortana shouted. "Floor it! Right into the hangar!"

The Warthog zoomed up the ramp, flying into the open hangar bay and skidding across it, tires squealing. Everyone immediately disembarked, Teana hitting the door to close the rear door while the Chief slotted Cortana into the ship's computer system. As soon as the hangar door was sealed, the frigate shot off like a rocket, heading up. They exited Installation 04-2's atmosphere and zoomed up and through the portal. Seconds after the last sapients left the area, the Halo finally fired, a bluish pulse racing out to cover the entire Ark, destroying any trace of the Flood. The incomplete Halo failed under the strain, literally burning itself up. Mendicant Bias, now back on the Ark, initiated the Ark's magic-based emergency mega-shields, allowing the Halo's pulse through but protecting the mighty installation from damage. The portal, affected by the energy wave, collapsed. But the _Dawn _was already on its way home, safe and whole.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

All that's left is the epilogue, which will set things up for the rest of the series by introducing some more trans-dimensional companions for Teana.


	37. Epilogue

EDITED 2/9/2014

**-****_CHAPTER START_****-**

**Earth**

**Sydney, Australia – Current headquarters of United Nations Space Command**

**November 22****nd****, 2552**

"Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, it is my great pleasure to bestow upon you the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, as well as to present you with this Congressional Medal of Honor."

"Thank you, Fleet-Admiral, sir."

"Sergeant-Major Avery Johnson, it is my great pleasure to bestow upon you the rank of Sergeant-Major of the Marine Corps, as well as to present you with this Colonial Cross."

"Thank you, sir."

"Commander Miranda Keyes, it is my great pleasure to bestow upon you this Navy Cross, as well as a promotion in rank. Congratulations, _Captain _Keyes."

"Thank you, sir."

"Warrant Officer Grade 3 Teana Lanstar, on behalf of the United Nations Space Command, I would like to personally thank you for all the help you have given in the months since you arrived in this dimension. It is my great pleasure to bestow upon you the rank of Warrant Officer Grade 4, as well as this Distinguished Service Cross. Also, may I say that, through analysis of records held in your Device's memory, the UNSC refuses to accept the TSAB's ridicule of your departed elder brother, and formally condemns those officials who insult his memory. We measure a man by his accomplishments, not his failures, and to speak ill of the dead is a grievous offense in our eyes. Considering that he had a hand in saving half a dozen planets during his career, he'll be regarded as a hero in our records. Lastly, on a relatively minor note, as a result of recent tests of your skills the UNSC has decided to mark you as fully qualified to wield the M99 'Stanchion' Special Applications Scoped Rifle; your training in its usage will commence tomorrow."

"Th… thank you, Fleet-Admiral, sir."

The old man smiled warmly.

"It is my great pleasure to know each and every one of you. Good job, soldiers."

He saluted them, and the crowd followed his example.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**UNSC Base**

**Voi, Kenya**

**January 5****th****, 2553**

Teana leaned against a metal wall, looking at her new team. Back on December 15th, each of the four girls had come from another realm like her, and like her they were looking to leave their old lives behind and start anew. Thanks to their sharp minds, a spell auto-casted by the _Starshot_, and her own knowledge-transferring ability inherent in her new eyes, they had been gifted with the necessary knowledge and skills to make a good Spec-Ops team, and had spent most of the time since studying & training to further their skills. She and they had quickly gotten to know and understand each other, and the UNSC had recently agreed to officially register them as a Special Ops squad called Gamma Team… with Teana as leader, Gamma-1. She'd been apprehensive of this last part, feeling that she wouldn't measure up to Carter's standards, but the Master Chief himself reassured her.

19-year-old Mai Kitagawa, Gamma-5, was a kind and gentle soul (not that this detracted any from her new skills as a soldier), with shoulder-length light brown hair (topped by a red bow) and gold eyes. Her passive, cheerful attitude upon her arrival belied her history. Mai possessed extraordinarily potent regenerative abilities, enough to survive things no normal human could hope to, which had been further supercharged by the trans-dimensional trip to Wolverine levels. Her history absolutely horrified those who learned it: on her home Earth, before being 'chosen' and rescued by the _Starshot_'s AI, she had been a sexual slave, with her owner renting her out to clients in order to be brutalized, butchered, and otherwise 'killed', put through things that her healing factor allowed her to survive… but that ability did not in the slightest decrease the horrible, indescribable pain and terror of the things she was put through. The UNSC had issued a full psychiatric workup, and in the process had accidentally awakened suppressed memories: of losing her only friend and being forced by her owner to watch her body decay, and of having her unborn child ripped out of her, defiled, and brutally murdered right before her eyes. It had taken a solid week of work to put the poor girl's mind back together to the point where she could be allowed out & about, and only two days ago was she finally allowed to go without escort keeping an eye on her. Needless to say, Mai was now _very _happy with this chance of a new life, with friends and a noble purpose, free of the mind-shattering tortures of her life so far.

16-year-old Marie Swanson, Gamma-4, was the only American of the group. In her past, she'd been a typical bratty teenager… until her younger sibling had found some reality-altering device that changed her into a 3-year-old while altering everything so that only she and her now-older sister ever remembered her being a teen in the first place. Eventually, a mishap caused by a second magical artifact had restored her to her original form, but had two other effects: first, it did not alter reality and memories, so her mother, sisters, and now-younger-again sister's boyfriend suddenly found their toddler member as a near-adult. Second, it hit Marie with every negative emotion and opinion people ever had regarding her and her actions – young and old – all at once, along with putting her through an Evangelion-Instrumentality-style psychoanalysis that broke down her deep-buried self-loathing and lack of self-esteem or empathy. The incident had changed her profoundly, but instead of choosing to remain on her home Earth (incidentally, the same as Mai's only on the opposite side of the Pacific) and make amends for past dealings, which she did wish to do, she instead felt that nothing she did could ever make things right. Thus, after she and her younger-again sister had explained things to the other three, she had bid them all farewell and stepped through the portal that had opened during the incident, despite her family's calls for her to stay and that they forgave her. She had arrived in this new realm, and had agreed to assist Teana in her future travels, righting wrongs and continuing to reinvent herself. She was now infinitely more pleasant than her old-old self, paying close attention to people's feelings and how her actions affected them. She was now, by nature, somewhat boisterous and seeking to get involved in things, and trying to be outgoing, shunning her old reclusive, harsh, sarcastic, manipulative nature. It took Kelly-087 quite a bit of work to convince and show Marie that sarcasm could be used in a non-hurtful way.

16-year-old Kaede Fuyō, Gamma-3, was still recovering from a "minor" psychotic break. On her home Earth, where angels and demons had lived peacefully among humans for quite a while, she had fallen deeply in love with a boy, and had also come to rely on him for emotional stability. So when the boy had fallen for and started spending nearly all of his time with another girl, to the point where he ignored and neglected Kaede, she had snapped, first trying and failing to kill the other girl and then spiraling into a depression. Shortly after she had, in desperation, curled up next to him in his bed… naked… and he had promptly run off, she had been offered the chance to join this new adventure. Convinced that there was no longer anything on her homeworld for her, she accepted, leaving a video log for her friends (including the boy and his new girl) explaining how she was taking a chance to travel other realms… and that they would never see her again. She did not witness their heartbreak, as the boy and the girl ruthlessly beat themselves up over their decisions and actions that led to this, and the other three girls of the group were nearly consumed with sorrow at losing their friend (who they had also developed some 'attraction' to).

Teana's second-in-command, Gamma-2, was a green-haired 17-year-old named Shion, and the only member of the group whose breast size rivaled Teana's… not that that meant anything, _really_. The girl had revealed precious little of her story. She hailed from a village nestled between small mountains, where she had been part of a group of friends that also included, in her words, "a charismatic brown-haired boy, an orange-haired girl obsessed with cuteness, my mischievous, blond-haired surrogate little sister, her cheerful, prophetic little friend, and another person I'd rather not talk about." Apparently, Shion had suffered multiple grave injustices at the hands of her clan throughout her life, living as a second-class outcast of the family, and the clan's condemnation of the pure-hearted boy she'd fallen in love with, to the point where she barely avoided being tortured by them for trying to defend him. And then he'd vanished without a trace. On her Earth's April 10th, a month and a half after the brown-haired boy had arrived in the village and become part of the group, Shion had done… something… that deeply angered her clan. So they tortured her for it by ripping out the nails of her right hand's middle, ring, and pinkie fingers. They expected this to cow whatever sense of self-worth she had left. Instead it pushed her over the edge, to the point where she methodically severed all ties and connections to the clan, even discarding her surname, becoming 'Shion the Nameless'. This had deeply shocked the undescribed other member of the group, and _enraged _her clan. She had promptly taken the chance to hop worlds, arriving here to join Teana, leaving her home and friends behind for good (she hoped), despite her friends' protests. Upon arriving, she'd had the ripped-out nails replaced with titanium-a prosthetics that could extend to form monomolecular-edged claws.

The later revelation by a UNSC medic that removed fingernails would eventually grow back left her utterly flummoxed. Of course, Shion's three wouldn't now, as the prosthetics' presence would ensure.

This new squad, Gamma Team, was quickly shaping up into a surprisingly adept and close-knit group, as Teana used everything she learned from her experiences in Noble Team to mold them into a proper Spec-Ops squad. Their first assignments had been helping the Spartans in hunting down Brutes hiding around on Earth and Mars, an assignment in which they'd succeeded marvelously.

Right now, the group was finishing up in readying their dress uniforms, in preparation for the memorial ceremony to be held in 50 minutes. Outside, the Sangheili Spec-Ops soldier Erohn Kilkar waited to escort them. Back on November 24th, the UNSC/Sangheili Alliance had arrived at a desert world called Crassus, providing much-needed assistance to the colonists and stranded Sangheili there, including Erohn's father Rukth. It had been Erohn who'd revealed to the UNSC an interesting little tidbit: the average Sangheili natural lifespan was far longer than the average human's. A Sangheili who took care of himself and didn't die in battle could expect to live over 275 Terran years, and the oldest Sangheili on record had been 320 upon death of natural causes. Erohn himself was 183, while his father Rukth was 240, and Erohn's son back home on Sanghelios was currently 14. It turns out that in addition to being warm-blooded and giving live birth, Sangheili young go through an equivalent of puberty, starting on average around 16 or 17 Terran years of age and lasting about a decade.

He had also given brief data on Sangheili non-sapient ancestors. Where humans evolved from grassland-dwelling apes, Sangheili evolved from forest- and river-dwelling creatures that could best be described as warm-blooded crocodilians with somewhat less size disparity between the sexes. That lived and hunted in packs. And the Sangheili species' current closest-living non-sapient evolutionary relatives were still the apex predators of their domains, capable of near-effortlessly killing an unarmed (and incautious) Sangheili with the same ease that a full-sized saltwater crocodile could kill the average civilian human.

Four days ago, the group had gone to southern California, to attend the 665th annual Rose Parade, welcoming the start of 2553. Even after so many centuries, and so much war, people still put their all into the festivities, with marching bands and flower-crafted floats and whatnot.

Teana's reflection on things was interrupted by the arrival of Yayap. He informed them that they were to make final preparations and head outside as soon as they were ready. Teana inspected her armor, which the press had insisted on her wearing, and then made sure the other four were spic & span. With a nod, she walked out and they followed.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

"For us, the storm has passed. The war is finally over."

Fleet-Admiral Lord Terrence Hood stood in front of a monument, made from a plate of armor from a UNSC frigate. On it were painted the words "IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED IN DEFENSE OF EARTH AND HER COLONIES. JANUARY 5, 2553", and pictures of several fallen heroes adorned the bottom.

"But let us never forget those who gave their lives in this long conflict in the defense of their future… our present. For their decisions required courage beyond measure, sacrifice, and conviction that humanity… is worth fighting for."

The setting sun cast a red-orange light on the hillside and on the people standing on it, reflecting off of the starships hovering above.

"As we rebuild our tattered worlds, this hillside will remain barren, as a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us… and they shall not be forgotten."

He placed his hat atop his head and saluted, and everyone else followed his lead. Gunnery-Sergeant Edward Buck, leader of ODST Sigma Squad, turned to his team – Taylor "Dutch" Miles, Kojo "Romeo" Agu, Michael "Mickey" Crespo, James "Rook" Dante, and two brand-new additions, tossed in right before the final battle aboard the Ark. He called out "Present arms!", and he & they raised their single-shot rifles, pointing them up at a 55-degree angle. Each of the seven soldiers fired once, then again, and then once more – a three-volley salute. As the gunshots echoed across the city, across the closed Ark Portal, the Arbiter walked over to the memorial, standing beside Hood and the Master Chief.

"I remember how this war started" Hood said. "What the Brutes did to Harvest… what Truth did for his own ends… what he tricked your kind into doing. I'm not sure I'll be able to truly forgive you for some time, but… you have my thanks, for helping save our people… for seeing this through to the end, and for personally killing the man who started the whole thing."

"Hard to believe it's finally over" the Chief said.

"Were it so easy…" the Arbiter replied.

**-****_NEXT MORNING_****-**

The _Starshot _prepared for transit. The UNSC and the Sangheili Alliance had given it a top-quality bridge crew and 1,500 soldiers and support personnel, along with a small fleet of dropships and many vehicles. The ship's bigger-on-the-inside technology/magic helped in this. Several high-profile individuals chose to accompany Gamma Team in their travels. Yayap and Foehammer were coming along. Colonel Urban Holland would serve as Gamma Team's commanding officer, just as he had for Noble before them. The Ultra-rank Zhal Arum, younger brother of Crassus' newly-made-Zealot-rank hero Vtan Arum, was made Ship-Master of the _Starshot_, with Erohn Kilkar as his faithful second-in-command. Teana had received a hero's send-off, and had promised to return and visit whenever she could.

Now Teana and the squad – _her _squad - stood in the bridge, as the crew gave several reports that all said the same thing: the _Starshot _was ready to go. Dimensional coordinates were inputted, and the destroyer's trans-dimensional slipspace drive began to come online. As the ship moved, the five girls and the Sangheili captain all dwelled on their tumultuous pasts, and looked forward to their bright futures, and a single phrase came from their hearts, dominating their thoughts for that one instant:

"_A new beginning…_"

The _Starshot _passed by _Cairo Station_, flying between the ships of visiting Sangheili dignitaries, and disappeared into a rift, leaving the dimension behind and heading for its next realm.

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Epsilon Eridani System**

**Reach**

**July 7****th****, 2589**

A red helmet with a cracked gold visor lay amongst grasses and flowers, underneath a blue sky.

"It didn't take long for Reach to fall. Our enemy was of great number, ruthless, and brutally efficient. But they weren't quite fast enough."

A white-feathered dove landed on the helmet, looking around, and then flew off.

"For you had already passed the torch. Thanks to you, we found Halo, unlocked its secrets, and started a chain of events that shattered our enemy's resolve and brought peace to our worlds once more."

A gentle breeze rustled the grass around the helmet.

"Our victory…_ your _victory… was _so _close. …I only wish you could've lived to see it."

A flower petal, blown by the wind, landed on the visor.

"But you are a part of Reach now. Your armor… your body… just dust and echoes in the wind. Everything… _except _your spirit; your courage. That, you gave to us."

In the distance, a UNSC colony ship resting on the ground, people moving about near it.

"And with it, we can rebuild…"

And the last chapter of Jess' story leads to a new book in humanity's history.

**_-BOOK 1 END-_**

**DISCLAIMERS FOR NEW ADDITIONS (kept down here instead of up-top to avoid spoiling): **

Mai, from _Mai-chan's Daily Life _(and does not have a canon surname), is the creation of h-manga artist 'Waita Uziga'

Marie Swanson, from DeviantArt series _Erika's New Perfume_, is the creation of Deviant-Artist 'Lance the Young' and is used here with his explicit permission given to me

Kaede Fuyou, from the e-game and anime _Shuffle!_, is the creation of Navel (the game) and Asread (the anime)

Shion Sonozaki (who has discarded her surname), from _Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni_, is the creation of 07th Expansion (original game) and Studio Deen (anime)

The planet Crassus and the individuals Rukth Kilkar and Vtan Arum, however briefly they are mentioned, are the creations of fanfic author 'Katsuhiro'


End file.
